My Own Darkness
by Soukouno Kimmonkyou
Summary: 16-year-old Stan Marsh receives a rash on his hand of untold powers. As he struggles to find out its meaning, his best friend, Kyle Broflovski, is having troubles of his own. South Park/Fire Emblem Xover, YAOI, with Kyle as the seme. Yeah, you heard me.
1. The Rash

~My Own Darkness - A Style Fanfiction by I, Cesar-sama (The Yaoi Surgeon)~

Warning: This is a fanfiction of Stan and Kyle from Trey Parker and Matt Stone's South Park. A YAOI one. If you don't like yaoi/shounen-ai, git the hell out, now. **I MEAN IT!!** Also, Kyle is going to be the seme (the aggressor), so if you are one of the 99.99% of Style lovers that prefers Kyle as the uke, bear with it. You may even say how you wished that Stan was the seme instead, just no bashing, please. _**I WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT ALLOW ANY FORM OF FLAMING/BASHING. IF YOU HATE STYLE BECAUSE YOU WANT STAN TO BE WITH WENDY, KYLE TO BE WITH CARTMAN OR BEBE, OR WHATEVER THE REASON MAY BE, I REALLY DON'T CARE FOR OR NEED YOUR OPINION.**_

Chapter 1

"Stanley, wake up! It's time to go to school!" Mrs. Marsh hollered out to her lazy 16-year-old so.

"But Mom, school is sooo boooring!" Stan yelled in response.

"NOW!!" Sharon threw a green hardcover, ancient-looking copy of William Golding's Lord of the Flies at him.

"OUCH!! Okay, okay already..." Stan managed to move his slow butt out of bed.

_It's just another day of dull school..._ Stan thought as he walked to his bus stop. When he got there, for some reason, his right hand began to itch a little.

"Hey, guys," Stan said to his friends Kyle, Cartman, Kenny, and Butters as he scratched his right hand.

"Dude, what's wrong with your hand?" Kyle seized Stan's right hand.

"K-Kyle!" Stan tried to shake Kyle off.

"Look at the hot new couple!" Cartman teased the two friends as he did during the Blainiacs fiasco eight years ago.

"Kyle, let go!" Stan finally broke free of the Jewish boy's grasp.

"Sorry, man!" Kyle put his hands in the air, as if to show he was innocent, "As your best friends, I'm just worried, you know?"

When the boys finally arrived at the school, all they had now was the tedium of their 1st period Algebra 2 Honors teacher, Ms. Choksondik, the sister of a certain teacher who passed on eight years earlier. She was also twenty times prettier that her older sister. She came in and said, "All right, class, today we are going to- ...Mr. Marsh, what are you doing?"

"My right hand _really_ itches, Ms. Choksondik!" Stan complained, "It's starting to have a red mark!"

It was true: there was now a huge red rash on Stan's hand due to all of the scratching.

"Do you need to go to the nurse's office?" The teacher put her hands to her hips.

"By all means, please!" Stan bolted for Nurse Gollum's office immediately.

When at the office, Stan held up his hands in panic.

"Nurse Gollum!" he hollered.

"Oh, Stanley, what seems to be the matter?" The nurse's dead fetus attached to her head moved slightly as she spoke. She moved from her old elementary school to the high school.

"There's a huge rash on my right hand," Stan spoke almost impatiently, wanting nothing more and nothing less than for the nurse to heal him.

"Let me see, Stanley," Nurse Gollum beckoned for the 16-year-old boy to come over, looking at his right hand, "Why, it's just a simple rash! I'll just put some hydrocortisone and a bandage on it, and it will heal after about two or three weeks. Sound good?"

"Okay..." Stan had little else to say as Nurse Gollum did as she said and he left for class.


	2. Powers

Chapter 2

"Mfpmppffm, ffmppffmf pmppppppffpp fppmfpmmmfmp mff mfpmppmmmpffmpm?" Kenny asked Cartman during lunch.

"What?" Cartman asked, half-intrigued.

"Mff mfpmppmmmpffmpm fmpmfpmmmfmp pmpffmpmfmpp pmfmffpmpmppfmm fmmppfppmmppppfpppmpp!"

"Get out of here, no way! Who is it?" Cartman was now totally aroused by this news, "Wait, I bet it's some goddamn Jewess."

"Pppppf, mfffmpfmm-"

"NO!!" Kyle rushed to Kenny, slapping him in the cheek.

"Fppmfpffm, pmpffmpmfmpp, fppmfpmmmfmpfmm fpppffppfpppmfm?" Kenny thought that what he did could not make him guilty.

"If you tell Cartman who it is, you're dead," Kyle uttered with a cross tone.

"Mmpfmffmp mff mpmmffmpp mmmpmfpmf fmpmfpmpp fmpmffppmmpp! Fppmfpffm mpmppfmppfmm mfffmp ppmmmmfmpfmpmpppff?"

"That's not the point!" Kyle slapped Kenny's other cheek, then took him to the side, "Listen. Apart from Stan, you are my next best friend. I am trusting you to do the right thing and not tell anyone-"

"Anyone what?" A voice crept from behind Kyle and Kenny.

"Stan! What are you doing here?" Kyle nearly leapt into the sky.

"What are you guys talking about?" Stan smiled endearingly.

"Nothing!" Kyle appeared to be angry, "Just get away from me, will you?"

Kyle finished his lunch in 10 more seconds, bolting for shop class as soon as he was done.

"Damn, what's his problem?" Stan eyed Kyle oddly as he left.

"Ppfmfp, mff mpmppfpppfmp pmppppppffpp..." Kenny giggled cutely.

"You and me both, dude!" Cartman spoke with a hint of annoyance.

~Back at the Marsh home that night...~

"Hey, dad..." Stan asked his father at dinner.

"Yes, son?" Randy asked.

"What happens if your best friend is pissed off at you for no reason and treats you like an archenemy?"

"Oh, no..." Randy began to choke on his food a little. His wife patted his back lightly.

"What? What does it mean?" Stan begged to know.

"Well... Et... Exactly _what_ happened today?" Randy got back under control.

"I just walked up to Kyle, and he shoots up like a rocket! Then I asked him what happened to him. Next thing I know, he acts all hostile towards me the rest of the day!"

"Um, son, I need you to listen very closely..." Randy's tone grew shakier.

Stan moved closer to his old man.

"When a man gets really angry, embarrassed, and surprised at a woman, it usually means... It means... Oh God, Sharon, _you_ take over. I can't go on," Randy looked away in embarrassment, acknowledging his wife, Sharon.

"Well, Stanley, it would mean that he would... um... like her?" Sharon tried to word it delicately, barely succeeeding.

At this astonishing news, Stan spat out the food in his mouth all over the Marsh dining table.

"What the HELL?" The enraged 16-year-old boy got up with his hands firmly planted on the table.

"Now,, now, Stanley..." Randy set his son down, even though Stan was still fuming, "Notice how I said when a man loves a _woman_. It doesn't apply to you, **son**."

"Oh," Stan continued with the rest of his dinner. It was just then that Sharon noticed Stan's injured hand.

"My goodness, Stan!" Sharon was somewhat aghast, "What happened? Was this at school?"

"Mom, I'm fine..." Stan insisted, obviously annoyed by a typical mother's overprotectiveness, "Yes, it happened at school. Nurse Gollum said it was just a simple rash that would heal in about half a week."

"Oh, okay, then," Sharon calmed down, kissing her son's head, "Good night."

As soon as Stan left the vicinity, he heard his parents discussing something. At first, it sounded like one of those adult matters that kids found drab, but when he heard his name mentioned, Stan was all ears.

"About Stanley's hand..." Sharon hesitated to speak.

"What about it?" Randy said in reply.

"Do you think... it's the mark?"

"The mark? But... it can't be!!"

"His powers could be awakening..."

At this, Stan gasped and thought, _My God, this rash is a_ good _thing? Wow!!_

With that, Stan went back to his room to sleep with this awesome thought.


	3. The Truth

Chapter 3

The next morning, Stan was eager to get to his bus stop to tell his friends of the wonderful news from last night.

"Guys, guys, guess what?" Stan tried not to jump for joy.

"What, you did something with Wendy?" Cartman asked sneakily.

"Very funny, fatass," Stan poked at the boy's rotund gut, then held up his right hand, "You remember this, right?"

"The thing that sent your sorry ass to that madwoman nurse?" Cartman rudely interrupted.

"Shut your pie hole, fat boy!" Stan slapped Cartman lightly, "Now, I overheard my parents talking about it last night. They said it was some kind of mark... and that 'my powers were awakening.'"

"That would be great if those powers involved killing Kyle," Cartman laughed, almost diabolically.

"Don't diss Kyle, fatass!!" Stan now punched his face, square in the nose, too, and it bled profusely.

"Why you...!!" Cartman growled, bolting for Nurse Gollum's office.

As soon as Cartman was gone, Kyle caught Stan's attention.

"So, uh..." Kyle cleared his throat, "You aren't... _really_ going to kill me with said powers, are you? What are they, anyhow?"

"I don't know what they are," Stan replied, "My parents never told me. And no, I wouldn't kill you even if I _did_ know."

"Good," Kyle drew a breath of relief.

As the two were walking to class, they heard a bit of... gossiping.

"So yeah, Kyle likes someone, but we don't know who it is!" Much to Kyle's misfortune, it was a familiar voice.

"Oh, shit..." Kyle bolted to the room as Stan looked at him, baffled, "Eric Theodore Cartman!!"

"Oh, here's the loverboy now!" Cartman directed all of his attention to the green-and-orange-clad kid.

"Kyle likes someone?" Stan was somewhat excited, "Who?"

"Cartman, you better not..." Kyle growled as he and Stan took their seats. Despite his rough plea, Cartman contined.

"Well, according to Kenny, it's someone in the school, but he won't say who, that little death master," Cartman laid back, glowering at Kenny.

"Oh, sweet Jesus!" Butters piped up, "That just adds to all the suspense, huh, fellas?"

"Yeah!" The whole class spoke in chorus.

"All right, take your seats, class!" The new Ms. Choksondik quieted everyone down as she came in, "Okay, now, we were working on geometric sequences..."

As Ms. Choksondik wrote on the board, Kyle whispered to Cartman, "You didn't... tell them, did you?"

"Mpmppfpppfmp fppppfpffpffffm, mpmfmfmpmmpp, mff fmmfppmppmmmpff fmpppf mfmppfmpm mff mfpmmmfpmmpp ffmmppfmp fmpppf fmpmpppmfpmf mmm fmmppffmfpmf," Kenny cut in.

"Phew, good," Kyle leaned back, relieved.

"Who do you like?" Stan was now curious, "Is it Wendy? Bebe? Shelley?"

"You... don't want wanna know," Kyle looked away, as pink as a subtle lipstick color.

"Aha!" Stan's eyes grew wider, "It _is_ Shelley, isn't it?"

Stan just realized, however, that his voice was a little too loud and that the whole class just heard his words.

"Do you have something to tell the class?" Ms. Choksondik looked cross.

"No point in that - who _didn't_ hear it?" Cartman teased.

"Just so you know, it ain't Shelley!" Kyle announced.

~After school~

"Thanks a lot for almost getting me in trouble, Stan," Kyle looked away from the dark blue-haired kid as they walked together.

"Sorry, sorry..." Stan apologized, "But who is it?"

"None of your beeswax!" Kyle erupted, almost angry.

"Why you-" Stan nearly punched his best friend when all of a sudden, they heard a moaning.

"What is _that_?" Stan turned in the direction of the moaning.

"It sounds like someone is hurt," Kyle guessed.

The two turned on the corner, looking at what appeared to be a woman's long dark blue hair. On the other street of the corner, there lie a gravely injured woman.

"Oh my God..." The two teenage boys rushed up to the woman, "What happened?"

"I... I was attacked... by ruffians," From her tone and appearance, it was quite clear that this woman was dying, "Stanley, the rash you bear on your right hand..."

"H- how did you know my name?" Stan's pupils shrank, "And how did you know about my rash?"

"That matters not, young Stanley... That rash, it is no ordinary rash. It's-" The woman heaved a very heavy cough.

"Don't say another word," Stan attempted to keep her quiet, "We need to get you to a hospital. Now."

"There is no need," the woman continued, "for my end is nigh. Yes, I see it... The mysteries that lie in that rash will confuse you, but do not fear, for your future radiates like the break of dawn. Surely it will become-"

The woman didn't continue any further, however, as she took her last breaths and slowly shut her eyes.

"Miss. Miss?" Stan and Kyle both checked for vital signs. But the now-pale woman had no pulse, no breathing, and her skin was colder than ice. She didn't move at all.

"Oh, oh dear..." Stan teared up at the fact that there was nothing he could do to save this lethally beautiful and innocent, young-looking woman. He buried his face in Kyle's chest.

"You need to go to your house now and tell your parents about this," Kyle barely managed to keep his cool as he broke away from Stan, "They're not far from here, right?"

"Oh, okay," Stan agreed as Kyle went for home, but then he noticed that the intricate red mark on the woman's right hand, which gradually faded away as her life did, was now entirely gone.

"Ow, my right hand is burning so badly..." He grimaced as his hand's pain only intensified. It eventually got so bad that he writhed and hollered in pain. As this happened, the hand also glowed, gradually incinerating the bandage. By the time the bandage was totally burnt, the pain and rash went away, and the same red mark on the woman's hand replaced it, as red as blood.


	4. The Apostle

Chapter 4

"Mom!" Stan cried as he entered his house, "Dad! My hand!!"

"Stanley?" Sharon said as her son approached her, "Hey, Randy, Stanley's home!"

"Oh, Stan," Randy smiled as he came in the kitchen, "Welcome home, son."

"My hand..." Stan shook as he held up his palm, "My hand is..."

"Why, Stanley," Sharon grinned, "The bandage is gone. Has your rash healed?"

"In a way..." Stan temporarily looked away, "But then... But then it got replaced with this!"

Stan then revealed the rouge-red mark on the back of his hand. The action caused Sharon to gape and drop the bowl she was holding and caused Randy to spit out the coffee he was drinking.

"What does this mark mean?" Stan questioned, "Is this what you meant by 'the mark' and 'my powers awakening'?"

"B-But..." Randy stuttered, "You were listening?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Stan's anger began to rise, "I know you know! Don't hide it!"

"Okay, I'll tell you," Randy spoke, "but what I am about to say does not leave this room. Capice?"

"Whatever..."

"That mark... can only be borne by the voice of Ashera, goddess of order."

"What... that doesn't make any sense!"

"Listen! Only the direct female descendants of Altina, first empress of Begnion, bear this mark. The apostle, the voice of the goddess, will foretell the future and bring prosperity to the world."

"_Female_ descendants?" Stan raised an eyebrow, "How can I be a goddamn 'apostle' if I'm a **guy**? If that's the case, then shouldn't Mom be the apostle?"

"One would think that, but..." Sharon could barely make eye contact with her son, "The thing is... I don't have the mark, and thus... I am not your birth mother."

"What?"

"Right before you got the mark, what happened?" Sharon inquired.

"There was... a woman.." Stan managed to recall the dying, striking woman, "She had this red mark on her right hand right before she died, and-"

"My God," Randy's eyes dilated, "Could that have been... Izanami?"

"Dad?" Stan walked up to his father, clinging onto him.

Randy cleared his throat, "Nothing, son. Now, remember, you can tell absolutely _no one_ about this brand, your mark. Okay?"

"Fine..." Stan felt inclined to agree, but would find it hard to retain such a dark secret.

~The next day at school~

"All right, class," Ms. Choksondik attempted to calm down the rambunctious class, "You are to do problems #3-39, multiples of three on the Chapter 11 Review Page as practice."

The whole class moaned, but knew that there would be hell to pay if they didn't listen. So they got into groups to work. If Ms. Choksondik hadn't allowed them to speak, even only quietly, they probably would have killed President Bush.

"So, Stan, anything cool happen to you yesterday?" Kyle asked out of the blue as he solved a summation notation problem.

"Cool?" Stan pondered, "Oh, yeah! Just last night, I-"

The new apostle stopped in the middle of his sentence, only just recalling that he was supposed to keep his brand a secret.

"Yeah?" Kyle went on to solving infinite series, "You _what_?"

"Um..." Unfortunately for him, Stan was utterly terrible at devising excuses, "Yeah! Did you see the new Terrance and Phillip episode last night?"

"What are you talking about?" Kyle recalled the flatulent, Canadian superstars, "There hasn't been a new Terrance and Phillip episode for about 7 or 8 years now! My goodness, haven't you heard?"

"Oops.." Stan attempted to do an innocent laugh, but to little avail.

"Are you... hiding something?" Kyle moved his face closer to Stan's, eyeing him warily.

"Oh... oh no..." Stan searched for a way out of his sticky situation.

Just then, however, the bell to move to second period had rung, much to Stan's luck.

"Oh, never mind!" Kyle bolted for his second period shop class.

_Now he's flustered again..._ Stan thought, _What is wrong with him? I don't know why, but I sense he has a secret he doesn't want anyone, especially Cartman, to know about... Could it be my power as the apostle?_

It was now second period shop class for the two boys. 'Twas a very rigorous class, thus only the manliest people took it.

"Okay, class," the teacher, Mr. Bob, announced at the late bell, "Today, we will be sawing wood to make a shack in the backyard. For that, I need you to put on some tough working gloves to protect yourselves from splinters."

Stan gulped, for he knew that he would have to remove his gloves concealing his secret to do this. That would not be good.

"All right, get into partners," Mr. Bob instructed, "One person will hold the wood in place as it goes through the machine, and the other will actually operate the machine. There are six logs for y'all to cut in half, and 15 machines total, which is just enough for the whole class to use. Now go!"

The whole class split into pairs. Stan was contemplating to work alone when all of a sudden, he felt a finger on his shoulder.

"Hey, Stan,want to work with me?" Kyle's voice sounded.

"Oh, h-hey, K-Kyle!" Stan was totally flabbergasted at Kyle's presences as he put his red glove back on, "Why, of course!"

Stan and Kyle headed over to the last remaining machine. Over there, there were two pairs of gloves for them.

"Well, let's get started," Kyle spoke as he put on the gloves, "Is something the matter, Stan?"

"Oh, uh, nothing!" Stan reassured as he took off the glove from his left hand and replaced it with a working glove. To conceal his brand, he decided to try to put the working glove on his right hand, without taking the red glove off.

"Um... Stan?" Kyle looked perplexedly at the boy, "You know, it would be far easier if you took your red glove off _before_ putting on the work glove?"

"No, I'm fine..." Stan waved his right hand in reassurance, only to cause the the glove on it to fly off.

"Gaah!" Stan could not believe how foolish he was, automatically covering up his blood-colored brand with his left hand.

"What happened?" Kyle asked.

"Oh, I just burned myself by accident when that glove flew off my hand!" Stan giggled as he frantically put the other work glove on his right hand, "It wasn't that bad, though. Let's get to work, now!"

Kyle decided to be the one to operate the machine, since he was always the top student in the class. Stan was quite up there, too, but was afraid that operating the machine will take off his gloves.

"Okay, Stan, you need to position the log _exactly_ right, or the cut will be inaccurate," Kyle directed.

"Like this?" Stan asked, attempting to move the log without moving his gloves off, thinking, _Damn, maybe I should operate the machine instead..._

"No, no, Stan," Kyle got away from the machine's controls to help Stan. From behind, the bright-haired kid put his hands on top of Stan's feminine hands, repositioning them until the wood was straight enough.

"K-Kyle!" Stan almost elbowed Kyle in the gut.

"Ooooh..." Cartman cooed, "Hey, Wendy, I think you have some competition..."

"What?" Wendy Testaburger, who was Mr. bobs student assistant, looked in Stan's direction, then yelled, "Stan! I can't believe you!!"

Never f*** with an ex-girlfriend, folks. Especially if that ex-girlfriend just so happens to be Wendy Testaburger.

"Oh, shit, it's Wendy!!" Stan jumped (but not literally), "Kyle! Get off me before my ex thinks you're trying to put the moves on me!!"

"Sorry about that," Kyle felt the temperature in his cheeks rise, letting go of the petite teenage boy. Doing so automatically put the jealous woman straight to work.

"Um... Kyle?" Stan eyed Kyle warily, "Are you all right? You're blushing."

One would think that the apostle of Ashera would be so much wiser. Apparently not.

_Maybe I should tell him..._ Kyle thought.

"Tell me what?" Stan somehow knew what Kyle was thinking.

"S-Stan!" Kyle was alarmed, "Did you... read my mind?"

"No!" Stan tried to blanket his powers, "You... uh... looked like you had something on your mind, that's all! Did you want to tell me something?"

"Stan...!" Kyle fumbled for a decent word choice, "Stan, I-"

It was just then that Mr. Bob walked over to the two boys, bellowing, "Stan and Kyle!"

"Sir," Both stood like soldiers.

"Get back to work!"

"Yes, sir," Kyle felt some of the tension gently lift off his chest. He went back to the controls on the machine as he and Stan perfectly cut six logs.

_Maybe I should tell him later..._ Kyle pondered in his mind as he and Stan put the logs outside.

"Take your time, "Stan told Kyle.

"Stan, I could have _sworn_ you read my mind just now, "Kyle raised an eyebrow.

"What I meant was," It took Stan seven full, straight seconds to find the right words, "take your time getting to your next class! It's only a few feet away from this one, right?"

"Riiight..." Kyle sounded doubtful, but moved on to third period as the bell went off.

When Kyle left, Stan said to himself, _Gee, Mom and Dad, how do you expect me to keep my powers a secret even from my best friend?_


	5. The Branded

Chapter 5

Stan walked through the door of his house, entirely exhausted from all of the work and boredom of school. He went into the kitchen, where he found his parents.

"So..." Randy began, "You kept your brand a secret, yes?"

"Barely!" Stan threw up his hands, almost in frustration, "Do I _really_ have to hide it from everyone?"

"Yes, Stanley," Sharon said.

"Even from Kyle?"

"..."

"Mom?"

"Especially Kyle."

"But why?"

"Just do what your mother says, Stan," Randy cut in.

"Why? She's not even my birth mother!"

"Still, she is the closest thing you have to one."

"Whatever," Stan gave up the mini-battle, "I'm gonna crash in my room."

At that, Stan did as he said he would. Luckily, he did all of his homework in class. So he just plopped himself on his bed, ready to hit the hay.

_What a day..._ he thought, _I wonder why Mom and Dad want me to keep my brand a secret, especially from Kyle. He's my best friend, right? All the more reason to tell him!_

At this point, Stan was having a multitude of brain farts. He conceded to them and slowly shut his eyes.

While dreaming, Stan saw Kyle in the dream. It was only the two, standing in a field of nothing but white snow.

_Stan, what are you trying to tell me?_ Kyle wondered.

_This,_ Stan put up his right hand, _is my greatest secret, which I will show only you._

But just as Stan was about to pull the glove off of his right hand, he heard a really blaring shouting at his window. So blaring, in fact, that he sprung wide awake.

"What the hell do you want?" Stan scratched his back, almost like a hobo, and treaded to the window.

"Hi, Stan!" Kyle shouted gleefully.

"K-Kyle!" Stan was surprised, but not in a good way. He had taken off his gloves, and quickly put his right hand behind his back.

"What are you doing here?" Stan could barely cloak his worry.

"My parents are staying overnight at a friend's house, so can Ike and I stay here for the night?"

"Um..." Stan was at a loss for words, _Crap, crap, crap. Holy mother f***ing crap. Why him?_

"I'm sorry, Kyle, but stay at - huh?" Stan shouted out the window, only to find Kyle and his 9-year-old brother, Ike, gone. They now stood at the Marsh's front door.

"Eep!" Stan made haste for the front door, hoping it wasn't too late.

Meanwhile, at that portal of no return, Kyle was speaking with Randy and Sharon.

"Please, Mr. and Mrs. Marsh!" Kyle pleaded.

"We're having company over later..." Randy thought up a quick lie, "It would be too hectic for you. And considering that Ike's here, he'll be deathly bored and want to leave."

"But we have nowhere else to stay..." Kyle continued, "Besides, I'm sure Ike could play with some of Stan's old toys or with the other kids..."

"It's an all-adult dinner party!" Sharon intervened, "We donated all of Stan's old toys to charity, anyway. Isn't there somewhere else you can stay?"

"Well, no," Kyle spoke, "Kenny is having family trouble at home, Tweek's family is in somewhat of a financial trouble, my other friends are busy, and Cartman's a total douchebag. Please, we have nowhere else to stay! Our parents wanted us to come here, anyway."

"Well..." Sharon looked at her husband for an answer. But when all he did was shake his head, Sharon gave up and said, "Okay, come in."

"Oh, thank you ever so much, Mr. and Mrs. Marsh!" Kyle bowed his head in gratitude, "Let's go, Ike."

"Okay," Ike, who was about up to Kyle's waist in height, followed his older brother in the Marsh home. As soon as they were in, Kyle heard a noise similar to that of thunder.

"What's that, big brother?" Ike asked.

"I don't know," Kyle, too, wondered, then asked Randy, "Mr. Marsh, you know there's a huge-"

Kyle was stopped short when he suddenly saw Stan at the bottom of the stairs.

"Kyle!" Stan gasped, "What are you doing here?"

"Your parents said Ike and I could stay here for the night."

"But why?"

"Mom and Dad are going over to a friend's house and didn't want to bring Ike. So they left me to watch him instead. Ike, our parents, and I wanted us to stay here."

Without saying a word, Stan ran as fast as he could to the kitchen.

"Mom, Dad, I would like to have a word with you two..." Stan took on an irritated tone, "Why are the Broflovski kids here?"

"They said they had nowhere else to go," Sharon whispered to her son, "Don't worry. Just keep both of your gloves on and they won't suspect a thing."

"Okay..." Stan walked off to where Kyle and Ike were sitting on the couch, saying to Kyle, "So, uh... Do you want some food? Bread or soda, perhaps?"

"Do you think you can get some toys for Ike?" Kyle asked.

"Of course," Stan went upstairs for about 2 minutes, coming back with a few of his toys from eight years ago, "Are these good?"

"Chin Pokomon dolls!" Ike ecstatically ran up to Stan to receive the toys.

"Wait a sec..." Kyle looked at the kitchen, where Randy and Sharon still were, "Mrs. Marsh, I thought you said you donated all of Stan's toys to charity."

"Huh?" Stan was puzzled, "Mom! What did you do with my toys?"

"Oh, well..." Sharon was as helpless as her son, "All except for the Chin Pokomon dolls."

"That ain't true!" Stan interjected, "I saw a bunch of my South Park Cows dolls and whatnot in the attic up there too!"

Just then, Stan heard a voice in his head, which belonged to his mother.

_Stan, just shut up,_ she warned.

"Hubba wha?" Stan blinked.

_Your powers as the apostle allow you to read minds,_ Sharon explained, _Anyway, just don't get us in a deeper hole, okay?_

_So, I_ did _read Kyle's mind!_ Stan thought, _Being the "apostle of Begnion" kicks ass!_

"Oh, crap, it's that time already?" Kyle suddenly got up after watching four hours of nearly straight television, "All right, Ike, time for bed!"

"But big brother!" Ike wailed, "I want to play with Chin Pokomon dolls!"

"It's your bedtime, Ike," Kyle said, "Mom and Dad told me to take care of you."

"Oh, all right," Ike finally agreed. On his own, he walked up to the guest room.

"Yawn..." Kyle stretched, "I want to go to bed, too. How about you, Stan?"

"Sure!" Stan agreed as he and Kyle walked up the stairs. As they walked, Stan asked, "So, uh, has Bebe been talking to you?"

"We broke up about 8 years ago. Didn't you know?" Kyle laughed, "But were are still friends, yes. Say, Stan?"

"What is it, Kyle?"

"Can I sleep in your room?"

Stan suddenly stopped in the middle of the stairs, "W-Why?"

"We're both _guys_, Stan," Kyle had a hint of annoyance and silliness in his voice, "Don't act like Wendy's coming over. I'm not going to seduce you in your sleep."

"B-But during shop class, you-"

"Oh, that," Kyle felt his heart skip a beat and a blush come on his face, "I... I was just trying to help you put the wood in place, that's all, honestly. Like I said before, I'm a boy, you're a boy. I don't love you like that. Totally platonic, okay?"

As Kyle rushed into Stan's room, Kyle thought, _Damn that kid._

_What could he possibly mean by_ that? Stan contemplated, _Does he hate me now? I wish he would just tell me already..._

When Stan got into his room, he found Kyle sleeping in his bed.

"Hey, Kyle?" Stan woke the boy up.

"What?"

"Forgive me for asking, but... Is there something in your mind?"

"Um... er, no, not exactly. But, Stan, you sure acted like you had a secret in shop class, yourself! Tell me, why _did_ you attempt to put on your working glove without taking off the red glove?"

At about that time, Sharon mind-spoke to Stan, _Remember, keep your gloves on..._

"Because..." Stan really wanted to give away his secret, but had to keep it.

"You know, I'm your best friend, man," Kyle reassured, "If you're secretly still in love with Wendy, that is fine."

"No, I'm long over her, dude," Stan answered, "I... I... I..."

"But if you don't want to tell me, that is okay, too. We all have our own secrets we want to protect from the rest of the world and us two boys are no exception."

"Okay, I'll tell you," Stan blurted out, "Where to begin... You know that rash I used to have?"

"Oh, yeah. Speaking of which, you aren't appearing to wear your bandage anymore. Why?"

That's what I'm about to tell you, you ding-dong!" Stan teased playfully, then got serious again, "Um, it got better, and-"

"It healed? Splendid!"

"Okay, Kyle, you absolutely _cannot_ tell **anyone** what I'm about to tell you."

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

"It got replaced," Stan slowly lifted off the glove on his right hand, "with this."

The back of Stan's right hand was now revealed to Kyle. Upon seeing this mark, Kyle only giggled, "You replaced it with a tattoo? It looks lovely. Do your parents know about it? Is _that_ why you didn't want to tell anyone? You thought that anyone who caught wind of it would tell your parents?"

"Oh, they know already."

"Did they... yell? Did you get in trouble?"

"No."

"Then why the big fuss?"

"It is no tattoo."

"Well, then, that rash is no ordinary one. It has shaped rather nicely, I must say."

"No, Kyle!" Stan's voice quivered with a tinge of sadness, "It is not the rash anymore, and it is certainly no tattoo. This... it is a brand. I'm one of the Branded."

"Branded?" Kyle could only raise his eyebrows, "What... on... Earth..."

"I bear blood of both a beast and a human. All sorts of blood types run through my veins, and give me powers."

"Oh, _those_ powers?" Kyle referred to the time when Stan told him about him eavesdropping on his parents, "You know what they are?"

"For the most part. I can predict the future to some extent, feel the flow of people's emotions, and... peer into the heart."

"Peer into... the heart?" For some reason, those words planted a worry seed in Kyle's heart, "Like... you can read minds?"

"Only definite thoughts. If it's very clear and obvious that someone wants to block their thoughts from me, then I cannot see them."

"Oh, thank God..." Kyle wiped his brow in relief.

"Why? Do you not want me to know your secret? We're friends, and that means you can tell me virtually anything. You said so yourself."

"Yeah... I'm afraid _this_ thought is so personal that I will not tell anyone, not even you."

"Fine, fine. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Well, it' getting late. Good night."

With that, Stan reached for his lamp, turned off the light, and went straight to sleep. He never _did_ take long to fall asleep.

_Oh, Stan..._ Kyle thought as he gradually let himself ride the Dreamland Express, _Forgive me... I just don't think you'd be able to handle the truth._


	6. Spilled Beans

Chapter 6

The next morning, Stan woke up, and it was to the smell of pancakes and sausages.

_Thank_ God _it's the weekend,_ Stan thought, _A break from that dreaded, forsaken wasteland the devil named school._

With this thought in mind, Stan trekked all the way to the kitchen, where he found a luxurious breakfast waiting for him.

"Oh my gosh!" Stan's eyes glistened as they scanned the steam emitting from the eggs and the flakiness of the biscuits, "Have you been looking at an all-star cookbook or something, Mom? Because this looks soooo good!"

"Um... no..." Sharon uttered somewhat innocently, "But I _did_ cook some of this... with a **lot** of help.

"Hi there, Stan!" A voice piped up from behind Sharon.

"Kyle?" Stan pointed at Kyle and his girly-looking apron with a look of shock, "You... can cook?"

"Hell yeah!" Kyle smiled, "Dig in, everyone!"

As they ate, Stan scarfed down much of the bacon, over-hard eggs, and hash browns, as they were his three favorite breakfast items. Before he ate the last slice of bacon, Sharon shot a thought at him.

_Hey, slow down,_ she glared at Stan for his nigh-inappropriate behavior, what with there being guests over and all.

"Okay, okay," Stan decided he was full after eating the remaining slice of bacon.

"Huh? Who are you talking to?" Kyle wondered why Stan would talk to himself.

"Nothing!" Stan tried to cover himself up. He _would_ have said that he had just read his mother's mind. But Stan didn't want his parents to know he had told Kyle that he was a Branded.

_So..._ Sharon continued to put thoughts into her son's head, _You didn't... tell Kyle about your powers and brand, did you?_

Stan was automatically hesitant to speak, "N-No, of course not! I am a good boy who always listens to his parents..."

"Stan, you are absolutely _crazy_," Kyle shot an almost rude look at poor Stanley, shaking his head, "Are you hallucinating? You keep on talking to yourself..."

"Um..." Sharon tried to surmise an answer, "He's... uh... just trying to say what a fine child he is! That's my Stanley, right?"

Sharon nudged her son, saying to him, _When I tell you something by mind-speech, just nod or shake your head and do what I say. Is that understood?_

Stan was about to open his mouth, but quickly shut it and just nodded.

_What the_ hell _is going on?_ Kyle, who knew of Stan's mind-reading abilities, spoke with him by mind-speech, _Oh, is_ this _why you were acting like you were talking to yourself? You were actually answering your mother?_

Stan nodded.

"Well, _I'm_ done here," Stan got up, putting his used dishes in the sink.

"I already escorted Ike to the Broflovski home," Randy noted.

"Then... can Kyle and I go to the mall?" Stan gave his mother the puppy eyes.

"I don't see why not," Sharon consented, although it seemed like she wasn't paying attention.

"Sweet!" Kyle cheered, "There's something I want to buy there, and I have a lot of money to buy other things.

"Then why wait? Let's go!"

But right before the two teenage boys made way for the mall, Sharon told Stan, _Ah, you're wearing your gloves. Good. Keep them on, lest you want your secret to be revealed._

Stan nodded, then he and Kyle got their butts out the door to go to the mall.

"Is it okay if I drive?" Kyle asked.

"Go ahead."

The two boys got in Stan's dad's van. About halfway on the trip to the mall, Stan asked, "So, uh, may I ask what you are buying?"

"You don't want to know," Kyle blushed lightly at the question.

They finally arrived at the South Park Mall. The first place they went to was the bookstore.

"Why the bookstore, Kyle?" Stan's voice bore a hint of complaint, "Only the geekiest of the geeky go here on weekends."

"Well, pardon me for being a geek!" Kyle barked at Stan, then got calm again, "Uh... I'm going to buy a book, so either wait here or look around. But whatever you do, **do not** follow me, understand?"

"I suppose..." were Stan's last words before Kyle left for a random section of the bookstore. Stan was only a slightly above average student, thus he was not nearly a big fan of books as Kyle, who always got straight "A's". Stan went to the manga section, where he found several series that he liked and had at home. Just as he was about to pick up a fortunately unwrapped volume of Junjou Romantica volume 8, which just came out two days ago, he heard a voice.

_Kyle... he is in the most secluded corner of the store,_ the voice told him.

"Mom?" Stan spoke aloud, "How would _you_ know where Kyle is? And why would you use mind-speech ten miles away?"

_I am not your mother, Apostle. At least, not directly._

_...Ashera?_ Stan used mind-speech as well, since people were staring at him earlier, _The one who gives me powers?_

_Yes. If you must know, Kyle is in the left-most corner of the store, purchasing something of great need._

_Great need? That's strange... why on_ Earth _would Kyle need at a bookstore other than comic books? He's smart, athletic, and a good cook to boot. Unless... Is he getting something... for_ me?

Stan felt his heart throb slightly against his chest, but shook it off.

_No, no, no! Besides, I know enough to get by. That's enough thinking, though. On to the upper left corner of the store!_

With that, Stan bolted past the manga section, romance novels, and kid's section. When he got to the destination to which Ashera directed him, he was surprised at what kind of a place he was in.

_But... This is the "special needs" section! Kyle doesn't need_ really _need much of anything, does he? Crap, here he comes now!_

Stan attempted to find a place to conceal himself in. Unfortunately for him, the "special needs" section of the bookstore was minuscule, there was no one else there, and Kyle spotted him in no time.

"Stan!" Kyle put his hands behind his back, "Fancy seeing you here, eh?"

"Look, Kyle," Stan tried to explain, "I know you told me not to follow you, and I'm sorry. But Ashera's voice guided me here."

"Ashera?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you? As the apostle of Begnion, I can hear the goddess Ashera's voice. She's the one who gives me powers."

"So you want me to call you 'Apostle' now?"

"Kyle, don't be absurd. We're friends. Just call me by my first name."

"But-" Kyle threw up his arms, only just realizing that his book was now showing.

"Kyle, what is _that_?" Stan walked behind Kyle, but the orange-haired kid only kept turning around to prevent Stan from seeing the book.

"Nothing!" Kyle laughed as he darted toward the cash register, picking up about three other books along the way.

_What's_ his _problem?!_ Stan got irritated by Kyle's fickle behavior, _If he didn't have such a mixed range of emotions, I could read his mind..._

After buying all of his books, Kyle made way for the exit of the store, calling out to Stan, _Come, let's go._

At Kyle's call, Stan left the bookstore with him.

"So, what did you buy?" Stan curiously asked.

"Just some... stuff for me..." Kyle refused to lock eyes with the teenage Branded boy.

"You're so wonderful, handsome, and smart!" Stan praised, "You wouldn't need _anything_ at a bookstore!"

"That is a common misconception," Kyle held up his right index finger, "Even the wisest of sages need advice on something."

"If you insist," Stan smiled.

Kyle's pulse rate went to 100 bpm at the grin, thinking, _Wow, he called me "wonderful"... Usually only_ girls _call me things like that._

"And I don't blame them," Stan remarked, "Why, if _guys_ fell in love with you, I wouldn't blame them, either!"

"S-Stan!" Kyle's heart now beat at a rate of roughly 110 bpm, at which he could feel it in his chest, "How... the _hell_ did you read my mind _this_ time? I didn't want you to read _that!_"

"Apparently, part of you _does_," Stan began to elaborate, "If even the slightest bit of you wants me to know a secret or read a thought, I can still somewhat see it. The more you want me to peer into your heart, the clearer it is."

Kyle automatically thought, _Dammit. Is he finally able to deal with the truth? Am I... ready to tell him?_

"What truth? What are you ready to tell me?" Stan batted his eyelashes endearingly at Kyle.

"I'll shoot you if you ask that again," Kyle's look turned absolutely stern, "I can promise you that."

_And there he goes with his doucebag 'tude..._ Stan felt that Kyle's horrid attitude was contagious.

"Oh, Kyle, I'm going to go to the bathroom," Stan announced after walking with Kyle around the mall for ten minutes, "Do you need to go too?"

"Oh, no," Kyle shook his head, "I'll just wait here outside for you."

"Okay. Be back in two minutes."

Stan then made his way into the men's bathroom.

"I hope he doesn't take too long..." Kyle spoke aloud, "I have homework, and I want to read some of my new books..."

Kyle was fiercely entangled with his thoughts when all of a sudden, he saw a familiar face. He was very plump, had a red jacket, and brown hair. It was a vile entity that Kyle knew as Eric Cartman.

_S***! What on_ Earth _is this fat-ass doing here?_ Kyle's eyes grew in size out of shock at seeing a very unwelcome guest at the mall.

"Kyle?" Cartman uttered in his loathsome, stereotypically fat voice, "Is that you?"

"Man, I wish I could run..." Kyle tightly closed his eyes, "But I promised Stan that I would wait here for him..."

"Hey, what's up?" Cartman said when he was right in front of Kyle.

"Nothing much..." Kyle thought it best not to mention Stan's name, else Cartman would begin to inquire about him.

"Really?" Cartman was surprised, "Well, I'll have you know I was just shopping with Butters, Tweek, and Kenny when they all disappeared into several areas of the mall."

"You... don't say!"

"They should be back any minute, though. I told them all to meet me at this bathroom area, but not one has come back yet."

"Really..." Kyle was relieved that nobody else was there for the sake of the least amount of people as possible seeing him and Stan shopping together.

Just then, however, the boys heard Tweek approaching them. At his presence, Kyle got butterflies, thinking that if he did not leave soon, Stan would come out, and that would not be good.

"Dude!" Tweek was shaking from the fact that he drinks too much coffee and had attention deficit disorder. His golden hair was standing on end.

"Goddammit, Tweek, what is it?" Cartman looked at Tweek with annoyance.

"There... There was this HUGE guy... who... who looked like Stan! Sort of... He had a similar style of clothing... Oh, God, I can't remember. Anyway, I gotta go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

At those words, Tweek headed straight for the bathroom.

"Well, that's nice!" Cartman exclaimed, "Oh, speaking of which, where _is_ that dark-haired gaywad Stan?"

_Uh-oh,_ Kyle thought, _Tweek, remind me later to cut off your goddamn head._

"What's been going on with him?" Cartman inquired as Kyle had foreseen, "Hey, speaking of which, I noticed how... oddly he behaved in shop class that one time. You're his best friend, right, Kyle? Tell me... what is Stan's deepest secret?"

"Why the hell would I tell a dolt like you _that_?" Kyle stood firm, "You have no right to know something that precious!"

"Oooh..." Cartman smiled evilly, " 'Something that precious', he says! Kyle, I could _swear_ you were in love with Stan."

"W-why?" Kyle flushed the color of a fire hydrant, "I'm _straight_, you know!"

"That's good," Cartman cackled, suddenly pinning Kyle to a wall by his collar, "Because if you are, you'll do well to tell me Stan's secret. Now."

"I'd rather _die_ than tell you, you bastard!" Kyle glowered at Cartman with piercing anger.

"TELL ME!" Cartman bellowed, attracting about ten passers-by's attention. Someone had already ran for the police, and Kyle felt a shooting pain in his back, scalp, and tailbone.

"Never..." Kyle's voice gradually grew weaker.

"If you don't tell me... I swear to _God_ I'll kill Stan. I'll mutilate him, smash him to smithereens, crush his fragile, girly bones-"

"STOP!" Kyle could no longer bear the thought of Stan being treated in such a horrid fashion, "I'll tell you. But for the love of _God_ and all that is good, don't hurt Stan. Please."

"Excellent," Cartman put Kyle down just as the teenage Jew was about to choke, "Tell me that stupid boy's secret, and I swear on my honor that no one will get hurt."

"Okay..." Kyle thought it best to be blunt in his answer so that Cartman could leave before Stan got back, "Stan... he is a Branded. The rash that used to be on his hand is now a 'brand' that signifies this."

"Branded?" Cartman pondered for a while, "Oh, yeah..."

"You know of them?" Kyle was partially relieved that he may not have to explain what being a Branded means, yet part anxious that Stan was about to be done any second now.

"Yeah," Cartman uttered as if it was obvious he knew about the Branded, "Ooh, so that pussy is actually a _Branded_... Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

While hollering in a bout of laughter, Cartman walked off. He didn't bother waiting for Tweek, for he didn't really care two figs about him, anyway. As soon as Cartman began to leave, Kyle's pain intensified even further. He though he was going to die until Stan and Tweek simultaneously came out of the men's bathroom.

"Dang, I practically had the _screamers_ back there..." Stan groaned, rubbing his backside.

"And I seemed to have an endless amount of pi-" Tweek began until Kyle cut him short.

"Ugh! Too much information there!" Kyle waved his hand in front of his face to tell Stan and Tweek to stop.

"Hey..." Stan squinted at a red glutton, in the distance, "Isn't that Cartman? Why is he laughing, like he farted in your face, Kyle? Hey, Cart-"

"Shh!" Kyle quickly put a hand over Stan's mouth as Tweek left.

"But why?"

"Because... Because... Because he'll probably as you about your brand!"

"Good point," Stan remarked "If that good-for-nothing fat kids found out about my heritage, he'd probably blab it off to the whole school."

Kyle gulped, and his face became contorted with worry.

"What's the matter?" Stan tried to make direct eye contact with the other boy, "Not only does your face cay you're troubled, but I can sense that now, you have _two_ secrets to keep instead of one."

"No, no," Kyle laughed.

"Kyle. Ashera's voice never failed me," Stan stated.

"Please, Stan... I'd rather not."

"Okay. I can also tell that you are not ready to tell me, and that is fine."

Kyle was rushing Stan and himself out of the mall when a young woman and two policemen approached them.

"There's one of the two young men who were fighting!" The young woman pointed at Kyle.

"Where's the other?" one of the policemen inquired.

"Um... Over there!" The young woman now pointed at Cartman in the far distance.

"Well, they've parted, so we'll let it go for now," the other policeman said as the three went asunder, "You and Cartman were fighting?" Stan asked.

"I... guess you could say that..." Kyle couldn't believe his bout of bad luck.

"It must have been bad if it called for police. But what were you guys fighting about?"

"Cartman asked about your 'secret'!" Kyle blurted out.

"What?!" Stan was furious, "You didn't... tell him about my brand, did you?"

"No!" Kyle quickly lied.

"Good," Stan gave a sigh of relief, "Like I said, if you told him, he would surely blab it to the whole school,. And then, I'm not sure if we could be friends anymore."

"..."

"But enough of that, Kyle. I want to go home. My head, back, and tailbone are bulging in pain..."

"Strange... I feel pain in those exact places!"

"Well, let's get home to recuperate, "Stan declared.

On that seemingly long drive back home, Stan was asleep, Kyle thought, _Is the fact that I told Carman_ that _that horrible to where we can't be friends anymore?_


	7. Sacrifice

Chapter 7

The two boys finally reached home. Luckily, it was before the 12:00 p.m. weekend curfew, so they did not get in trouble. In fact, they arrived barely in time for lunch.

"Oh, there you are, you guys," Sharon acknowledged Stan and Kyle as they entered the house, "Have you two boys eaten lunch yet?"

"Yes, we have," Stan answered back, "But Mom, my head, back, and butt really hurt for some reason."

"Oddly enough, I hurt in those same places too, Mrs. Marsh," Kyle cut in.

"Oh... oh dear..." Sharon suddenly gasped dropping the giant ladle she was holding. she then wet to her husband, whispering something to him. When they finally stopped whispering, Randy went back to what he was originally doing. When Kyle was gone, Sharon walked up to Stan, saying to him, "Are you absolutely _positive_ that you didn't tell anyone about your brand? Don't lie! Tell the truth!!"

"Honest, Mom!" Stan felt the guilt pile up, "I didn't tell anyone."

"That's awfully strange..." Sharon walked off, pondering. Stan could hear her think, _If he is telling the truth, then those pains shouldn't be occurring to him. Is he... lying?_

_Uh oh,_ Stan foresaw that his mom would come for him, so he went straight to his room, where he found Kyle. As he entered the room, Kyle frantically threw up his arms, dropping a book.

"S-Stan!" Kyle laughed, "What a surprise!"

"What the _hell_ were you doing right before I got in here, dude?" Stan eyed Kyle with confusion.

"Er... nothing!" Kyle rushed towards the book, quickly putting it in his adorned handbag, "Just doing some light reading!"

"Funny..." Stan was doubtful. He was about to reach into the handbag when he got a "mind-message" from his mother.

_Stan, a visitor to see you at the door._

"Oh, sorry, Kyle," Stan lifted his hand from the bag, "My mom just told me through mind-speech that there is someone at the door.

_Oh, good,_ Kyle thought.

"Why good?" Stan questioned.

"S-Stan!" Kyle was alarmed, "Are you... Are you somehow getting better at reading minds?"

"Did you not want me to peer into your heart?"

"Barely! I wasn't really thinking. But anyway, who is it?"

"I dunno... She never told me."

These were Stan's last words before he left Kyle alone.

"A visitor, huh?" Kyle contemplated, then his eyes grew wider with worry, "It... No! It can't be!!"

Kyle made his was to the Marsh's front door. To his horror, an unwelcome face stood just outside of it. At least he got there before Stan did.

"Cartman!" Kyle jumped, "What in the seven _hells_ are you doing here?" _Uh-oh..._ not _good!!_

"Oh, I just want to stay over at Stan's house. Can I?"

"Uh..." Kyle was only slightly better at coming up with ideas than Stan, however smart he was, "Stan is _extremely_ sick right now, and-"

"Sick? Well, that doesn't surprise me," Cartman snorted, "Can't I see him, though?"

"You don't understand; he's so sick that it's contagious and could kill you," Kyle had spoken.

All right, maybe Kyle was more than a _little_ better than his friend at making up excuses on the spot.

"Fine, I'll just leave," Cartman left the front door.

_Damned good riddance,_ Kyle thought.

Much to his unwanted surprise, however, Stan was not rushing up to the door.

"Aw, did you send the visitor away?" Stan wailed.

"Yeah..." Kyle could still see Cartman, and rushed Stan in the house.

"Huh?" Stan squinted at the huge red mass in the distance, "Cartman? Cartman!"

"Oh," Cartman's hearing wasn't too shabby, and he barely heard the calling, "So you _aren't_ as sick as Kyle says."

"Huh?" Stan cast a somewhat evil glance at Kyle, "Have you... Why?"

"Ah, well, whatever," Cartman shook off the subject, "Hey, Stan, did you know you're a B-"

Kyle punched Cartman's left cheek, leaving a cleanly-cut incision on it.

"Kyle, why did you do that?" Stan scolded.

"Uh... he was about to call you a 'bad boy'!" Kyle rushed to Cartman's side, giving him a spink on the head, "Stupid Cartman."

"What?" Cartman raised an eyebrow, "That's not-"

"Well, Stan has a lot of weekend homework, so don't disturb him!" Kyle quickly shut the door, panting somewhat.

"What on Earth was that for?" Stan wondered, "Cartman is our friend too, you know!"

"_Friend?_" Kyle retorted, "What good has that half-wit ever done for _us?_"

"Whatever. But Kyle, somehow I predict that he was going to say something other than 'bad boy'...."

"No, I'm almost absolutely sure of it."

"But I can hear the voice of the goddess, and you can't. So how can you predict something that I cannot?"

"Um... I dunno!" Kyle quickly lunged for his handbag, which was nearby, "Gotta run!"

Without another word, Kyle was no longer in the Marsh home.

"Damn," Stan snapped his fingers, "And it was almost time for lunch, too."

Just then, Sharon walked up to her son, saying to him, "It's you're favorite! General Tso's Chicken with shrimp friend rice! Hey, where's Kyle? I heard he loves Shrimp Lo Mein, so I ordered a medium-sized bowl, just for him..."

"He ran home."

"Well, what a shame. I''l just have it sent over when he comes over next time."

With that, Stan arrived at the dinner table to his favorite foods. Shrimp in lobster sauce, shrimp friend rice, and shrimp egg rolls were all among these. But his favorite dish of all was the General Tso's Chicken, which was in the middle of the table.

"Wow! Chinese food!" Stan stared in awe at the delicacies of that lunch.

"I _did_ order extra for Kyle, but..." Sharon started, "Whatever. As I have said, I'll give it to him when he comes back."

At those words, the Marsh family said a quick grace and began to eat their lunch. In the middle of it all, Randy randomly asked, "So, uh, what did you and Kyle do at the mall, Stan?"

"Well," Stan spoke through a mouthful of chicken, "Kyle and I went to the bookstore, first thing. Ashera's voice told me that he was in the 'special needs' section, although I have no idea why. The book he was holding had a completely pink cover. What a girl!"

As Stan wolfed down more fried rice, Randy and Sharon were whispering to each other. When Stan leaned in to try and listen, Randy said, "Oh, it's nothing," and went back in his normal position to eat.

"Thanks for the food!" Stan left after the family said grace again, then quickly remembered something, "Oh, yeah. There's a football game tomorrow. Our varsity football team is going to play against our rival, the Middle Park Cowboys. Can I go?"

"**THE MIDDLE PARK COWBOYS?!**" Randy erupted from the table, "Dude, they're the most rigorous, rough high school football team in all of America! Not that the South Park Cows aren't close enough, but still! The Cowboys could be easily mistaken for an NFL professional team. Man, if I didn't have a thesis to write, I'd go. By all means, go, Stan! Get me some souvenirs if you can!"

"Wow, that just makes it that much more exciting!" Stan was hyped up, "Thanks, Dad!"

Stan ran into his room, imbued with energy. When he was gone, Sharon said to Randy, "Randy, are you sure about this? Something bad could happen... I know our boys are very good at football, but to go against Middle Park? I wouldn't be surprised if they got killed. Not that I would wish it..."

"Honey," Randy put his hands on his wife's shoulders, "That's just the nature of football. That's why there's the coach, team physician, and athletic trainer there, you know. Besides, Stan's not even playing."

"You're right," Sharon rose, walking to her bedroom.

Meanwhile, in Stan's room, he dialed Kyle's cell phone to remind him about the upcoming football game.

"Hey, Kyle."

"Hello... That you, Stan?"

"Yup. Hey, are you going to tomorrow's football game?"

"Tell me about it. I was just-"

"Huh? Just what?"

"Nothing! Anyhoo, I'll be there. You can count on it!"

Kyle then hung up.

_Well,_ that's _nice,_ Stan thought, _It's nice to know that at least one of my friends is going. But I felt that he was exhausted... Is he finally tired from his extremely hard classes?_

This was Stan's final thought before he let himself drift into sleep.

~The next morning~

"Crap!" Stan quickly woke up, completely unaware of the time, "Mom! Dad! I'm leaving now! May I borrow the car, Dad?"

"Huh?" Randy was still half-asleep, "Yeah, go ahead."

"Thanks. Gotta book it!"

Stan hurriedly left his house in his dad's mini-van.

Just then, Sharon woke up, groggily asking her husband, "Hey, where's Stan? Is he still asleep?"

"No," Randy was fully awake now, "He left for the football game in the car..."

"The car..." Sharon repeated, springing wide awake after having an epiphany.

"The car!" The married couple stared at each other in horror, "We left _it_ in it! S***!"

"I guess our only hope is that he doesn't discover _it_..." Sharon worried.

"You're right..." Randy could only reply, "No sense in crying over spilt milk, right? Well, I'm gonna go write my thesis now."

~ Meanwhile, at South Park High School's Football Field...~

"All right!" The half-Japanese principal, Mr. Mayichi Balls, was to be the announcer of the game, "It's the moment you've all been waiting for, folks! The best high school football team in all of America, our rivals, the Middle Park Cowboys, versus our very own South Park Cows!

The whole crowd cheered in an uproar.

"Okay, folks," Principal Balls continued, "We're about to start the game. Coaches, shake hands... Now, one of the referees will flip the coin... Count down... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... PLAY BALL!"

At Principal Balls' call, the football was kicked in the air by a Cowboy. Throughout the remainder of the quarter, the ball danced across the field.

At present, the score was tied at 24. Stan loved football when he was a kid, and still loved to watch it. He rooted for the Cows whenever they made a touchdown.

The ball was kicked yet again by a Cow, but this time, it landed in the hands of a Cowboy in the middle of the field.

"Oh, no!" Principal Balls announced as some of the crowd members on the Cows' side were booing, "The Cowboys have the ball! They're going to make a- huh?"

Just as Principal Balls was about to say the word "touchdown", a Cow with the number "01" on his jersey seized the ball from the Cowboy's arms.

"Oh my goodness!" Principal Balls exclaimed, "Looks like there's still hope for our Cows!"

And rightfully so. For the #01 Cow bolted at breakneck speed for the Cows' touchdown line, scoring 6 points for his team.

"All right!" the principal shouted, "30-24! Cows in the lead! It's still anyone's game, though!"

_Wow..._ Stan thought, _Than #01 guy is sooo cool!_

It was now the last five minutes of the last quarter. For the past three quarters, Stan fixated all of his attention on the #01 Cow player. If he was girl, he would have done a fangirl scream every time "Mr. #01" made a touchdown. But being a guy, he retained himself.

And it just so happened that #01 was bolting for the touchdown line. But now, the most gruff-looking Cowboy was on his tail, and all the other players were lagging behind.

"#01 is about to make a touchdown! But wait, #13 of the Cowboys is right behind him-"

the #13 of the Cowboys tackled #01 of the Cows hard in the back. Right before his touchdown line, #01 took a harsh tumble, landing with a huge **thud** on the grass.

When the referees blowed their whistles, the coach called out to #01, tapping him on the shoulder, "Hey, man, are you okay?"

The whole crowd gasped when the football player did not respond. The coach then beckoned the athletic trainer and team physician to come over. When they noticed no signs of life, the athletic trainer said, "I'll call 9-1-1."

"Good idea," noted the team physician, "In the meantime, let's roll him over and-"

But when the team physician put #01 on his back, he noticed that there was a huge, hemorrhaging laceration on his chest.

"Oh... oh no..." the coach gasped.

"Get a huge thread and needle," the team physician ordered, "Ms. Knives, get the Trainer's Angel to cut the mask so we can give him rescue breaths when necessary."

"Right," Athletic trainer Ms. Knives, who just finished calling 9-1-1, did as she was told. Using the Trainer's Angel, she cut off #01 face mask, lifting it off. Stan squinted at the face, and upon seeing who it was, he was appalled.

"K-K-Kyle?" Stan's heart was hammering, "It... NO, IT CAN'T BE!!"

In desperate action, Stan ran to the place where Kyle lay unconscious, despite what the outfield told him.

"Hey!" The coach yelled at Stan, "You can't come in here! There's blood everywhere!"

Two buff, beefy football players at least one foot bigger than Stan seized him.

"Unhand me!" Stan teared up, "My best friend... My best friend is d-dying right b-before my eyes!"

"Young man, I understand your predicament, but-" the coach frowned.

"No!" Stan's sweet tears rolled down his cheeks in liters, "Nobody understands! He's... he's... There is no person in the world as dear to me as him!"

At that moment, Ashera's voice sounded in Stan's head, _Stanley... I... I have been waiting for a while to do this, but I will grant you a new hidden power._

_Power?_ Stan quivered, _What is it?_

_You'll see._

Ashera's voice went away. As it did, Stan felt a renewing energy brew within himself, strengthening him to the point where he easily shook off the football players restraining him before.

"What the-" Ms. Knives was astounded as Stan easily shoved her, the coach, and the team physician out of the way.

"Kyle!" Stan cried, shaking the unconscious Jew, "Kyle, open your eyes..."

"Boy!" The team physician screamed, "Get away! You're making it worse!"

The two football players from earlier, the coach, the team physician, and Ms. Knives all charged at Stan and Kyle. But when they did, they got heavily pushed back in an invisible force.

"No one..." Stan spoke through gritted teeth, "...will get between my friendship with Kyle!!"

Stan then drew out the power that had been building up from within him. It became a baby blue light, and Stan moved it over Kyle's wound. It took a while, but the laceration fully healed, as if nothing.

"Ugh..." Kyle's consciousness quickly returned, "What's going on? Why is there an ambulance here?"

"How... How is it possible?!" Ms. Knives was in shock.

"Stan!" Kyle noticed Stan kneeling on the ground, "Are you okay?"

"Uh..." Stan was about to slip into unconsciousness, "I'm... I'm gonna..."

"Stan? Stan!!" Kyle tried to wake Stan from his unconscious state, "EMS! He's right here!"

The last thing Stan saw before seeing black was Kyle and EMTs coming to put him in a stretcher.


	8. Pain and Hurt

Chapter 8

"Ugh…" Stan's head was throbbing in pain, "Where am I?"

"Oh, he's come around. Doctor!" he heard a woman's voice shout and leave him.

Stan finally woke up. When he did, he was in a totally blank white room, which reminded him of a hospital. He turned his head to the left, and the first thing he saw was Kyle in his normal orange coat.

"Stan!" Kyle shouted, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" Stan could barely speak, "Kyle, am I in a hospital?"

"You are," Kyle answered.

"Stan!" Randy and Sharon's voices could be heard from far off.

"Mom?" Stan acknowledged the presence of his parents as they came in, "Dad?"

"How… What happened?" Sharon worriedly asked.

"Stan was just in the middle of the football field…" Kyle began to answer, "He was right next to me, trying to heal a laceration I had, and next thing I knew, your son was unconscious."

"Ah…" Sharon gasped, then spoke to Stan, _Did you… did you hear Ashera's voice?_

Stan nodded.

_Then…_ Sharon was going to say something more, but couldn't do so with Kyle's presence, "I'm sorry, Kyle, but may you leave for just a little while?"

"Of course," Kyle agreed, quietly exiting the room.

As soon as Kyle was gone, Sharon went on, _That… Ashera must have given you a new power, the healing power of Sacrifice._

"So, _that_ was how Kyle's gaping wound instantly got healed?" Stan asked.

_Yes. One of your ancestors, Apostle Micaiah from about 1,400 years ago, also had this power. Ask anyone from Begnion, and they will say you look like and are like her._

"Wow," Stan was amazed, "My 50 times great-grandmother must have been an amazing woman."

_Indeed,_Randy smiled slightly, _But Stanley, remember, it's called 'Sacrifice' for a reason. Apostle Micaiah also would pass out if she healed a wound like you did yesterday. Just… refrain from doing it in public. We managed to hide this particular incident from the media and the public, but you_ have _to be careful in the future._

"I'll try…" Stan could barely agree.

"Well, we'll leave you alone to rest now," Randy spoke.

When Stan's parents left, they noticed that Kyle was still standing outside Stan's room.

"So, uh… You're still here!" Randy attempted to cover his son up.

"You didn't… hear us, did you?" Sharon asked.

"I swear on my honor that I know nothing," Kyle vowed.

_Good…_ Randy and Sharon both thought at the same time.

"If I may…" Kyle interrupted, "I will go back to see Stan."

"By all means!" Sharon permitted, _But don't you_ dare _hurt him or otherwise get him to tell you about his brand._

"Thank you," Kyle bowed slightly, then went into Stan's room, "Uh… What were you talking about?"

"According to Mom," Stan began, "The power that I used to heal you was one I inherited from an apostle 1,400- something years ago. It's called 'Sacrifice'."

"So, it all makes sense…" Kyle thought aloud, "_That's_ why you fainted after healing my laceration – you _sacrificed_ you well-being for mine…"

"D-don't take it the wrong way!" Stan shook his head and hands, "I really like you as a friend, but I'm not _in love_ with you. Don't worry! I won't come between you and Bebe."

"Stan, I thought I told you…" Kyle's tone suddenly grew tense, "I don't love Bebe. There's… someone _else_ I'm in love with…"

"Oh, yeah!" Stan recalled, "You never _did_ tell me who you loved. Are they pretty?"

"Uh… Oh, yes."

"Smart? Kind?"

"_I_ would definitely say so."

"Ooh!" Stan wanted to get out of bed, but was too tired to, "That only gets me more interested. So, who is it already?"

"I'd rather not say."

"C'mon, tell me."

"No, thank you."

"Please?"

"No!"

"A-**HA!**" Stan pointed at Kyle, "It's Wendy! _That's_ why you won't tell me!"

"Shut up!" Kyle shouted with anger filling every inch of his body, "You broke up with her."

In a fury, Kyle hurried away, running, not caring about anyone who stood in his path.

"Oh my God…" Stan held his hands to his face and cried, "Why didn't he tell me? I would accept it, anyway… Oh, Kyle…"

~The next morning~

"So, Stan, how are you feeling?" Randy woke his son up with breakfast in bed.

"Better," Stan began to eat his crappy hospital porridge, "Hey, when can I leave? Being in a hospital is as dull as dirt."

"I don't know. You'll have to ask-"

"Good morning," a beautiful, tall nurse walked in the room.

"Nurse!" Stan spoke with a hint of impatience, "When can I leave? I'm tired as **HELL** of staying here!"

"My, my, such an impatient boy," the nurse's smile accented her full, red lips, "Just like my 9-year-old son."

"Stan!" Sharon pinched her teen lightly, "Mind your manners, boy! So sorry, Nurse…"

"Oh, quite the contrary," the nurse answered, "The doctor says you can leave today. This was only a simple fainting spell, so fret not."

"Like… 'right this minute' kind of today?"

"Hold on…" the nurse went over to Stan, holding a popsicle stick and wearing gloves, "Open your mouth…"

The nurse checked Stan for about two minutes.

"Okay… normal pulse…" she wrote the findings on a clipboard, "Reflexes good, blood pressure good… Yup, your vital signs are good, Mr. Marsh. You can go now."

The nurse removed Stan's IV

"Yay! I'm free!" Stan leapt out of his bed to cheer.

In the middle of his dancing, and when the blonde nurse was gone, Sharon said, "Only here's the catch. You woke up just in time for school."

Stan's jaw practically dropped to the floor, "What?! NO, I'M STILL SICK!! *cough * *cough *"

"Not according to the nurse, you're not," Sharon was disappointed in her son, "Stop making excuses. Your 1st period starts in 45 minutes."

"Okay…" The 16-year-old Branded boy gave in to his inability to form decent excuses.

On the way to his school in his mother's car, Stan noticed that Cartman had a rectangular object of some kind in his hand. Upon being let out of the car, he walked up to the glutton, saying, "Hey, Cartman, what do you have there?"

"Oh, _this?_" Cartman held up the small box, "I'll show it to you during Mr. Wich's class 7th period."

"Okay," Stan grew unexpectedly excited, "Can't wait to see it! Well, let's go to algebra class, now!"

"Let's!" Cartman smiled, _Oh, wouldn't_ you _want to know?_

"Know what?" Stan smiled at Cartman right in front of Ms. Choksondik's class.

"_What?!_" Cartman cocked his head in confusion.

_S***… I'm not supposed to tell Cartman that I can read minds…_ Stan thought, "Know what? We are learning about factoring in algebra class! Damn, I want to bust my head open…"

"Right on!" Cartman agreed wholeheartedly as he and Stan went in the room. When talking to Kyle distracted Stan, he thought, _So, his laguz blood allows him to read minds? And so, the plot thickens… Wait! His power at the football game… And his ability to read minds… Could… Could he be?_

Just as Cartman was about to conclude his thought, Ms. Choksondik came in the room, saying, "Okay, class, we're going to do more work on factoring… Mr. Cartman, take your seat, please."

_Tch, what a bitch,_ Cartman thought as he did as he was told.

_Who put the bug up_ his _butt?_ Stan wondered, _Even Cartman isn't_ this _cranky in the morning!_

"Get into your groups from yesterday!" Ms. Choksondik instructed as some of her students already began to do so, "Remember not to talk too loudly!"

Kyle, Stan, Cartman, and Kenny had their desks turned to one another. When they did so, Kyle took not of Cartman's "surprise" and said, "Cartman, what's _that?_"

"I'll show it in Mr. Wich's class. Don't worry," Cartman replied.

_I hope it doesn't involve_ that… Kyle worried.

"Involve what?" Stan eyed Kyle.

"Nothing!" Kyle laughed, then got serious when talking to Stan through mind-speech, _Stan, you can't let Cartman, Kenny, or anyone else know of your powers. Remember where you are._

Stan nodded as he got back to work.

~During lunch~

"So… can you at least give us a _hint_ as to what this thing is?" Stan spoke before taking a bite of his tuna sandwich.

"Y'all will like it," Cartman answered, "Especially you two, Stan and Kyle."

"Oh, wow!" Stan clapped. He was happy until he looked at Kyle, thinking, _Kyle... Why do you feel so distressed? If you didn't have such a thick wall around your heart…_

"But you _know_ I don't have Mr. Wich that period!" Kyle complained.

"Oh, well. Stan will tell you about it," Cartman snickered.

~During Mr. Wich's class~

"Okay, class, get on the computers and finish your work!" Mr. Wich told his graphic arts students.

"Hey, Mr. Wich," Cartman, Stan, and Kenny all walked up to the teacher.

"Yes?"

"May we borrow your big screen and overhead?"

"Sure. Just don't break it, okay?"

"Thank you."

With that, Cartman and Mr. Wich set up the overhead, ready for use. Cartman grabbed the microphone and said, "Everyone, may I have your much needed attention, please?"

Cartman, unfortunately, was one of the most popular kids at school, so everyone now faced him, knowing that what he had to say must be good.

"Who here watched yesterday's football game?"

All the students raised their hands. Even Mr. Wich did.

"Good," Cartman now popped the tape in the VCR, "Because what I am about to show you… will blow your mind away."

To Stan's horror, the video showed him running onto the football field. He could see the blue light beginning to glow.

"Okay," Cartman paused the tape, "Here you see Stan over there-" he pointed to Stan – "generating a light. You may be thinking, 'What's the goddamn deal? It's just a flashlight.' WRONG! Do you see any flashlight? Hmm? No. Kyle was gravely injured, right? But as Stan's light fades…"

Cartman continued the video past the point where Kyle's laceration magically faded. When it did, the whole room gasped in shock.

" 'Ohmigoshness! How did Stan do this?' Right? One 'Kyle Broflovski' told me a certain interesting tidbit of information. But I couldn't prove it, until now. You see, folks… Our lovely 'Stanley Darsh' is a Branded! He bears blood of human beorc and human-animal laguz, blood that is universally reviled. He'll read your mind, peer into your soul, and predict what will happen to you next."

A sudden wave of discord now sounded throughout the whole room.

"Eww!" Some girls squealed, "I bet he can tell what kind of lingerie we're wearing!"

"Sick bastard!" A beefy black kid snorted, teasing the kid next to him, "He'll peer into your soul like a ghost..."

The whole class laughed.

_Oh my God…_ Stan could not believe his ears or eyes, _Kyle, how could you?_

Stan thought of a quick, easy way to get revenge on the bloke. He walked up to Wendy, saying, "You know, Kyle likes you. He told me last night at the hospital."

"Ooh…" Wendy pretended, "Did you read his mind to get that information?"

Wendy and Bebe Stevens, her best friend, laughed.

"Screw… Screw you guys, I'm going **HOME!!!!**" Stan sprinted out of the room as his tears swayed in the wind. He ran and ran, until bumping into a fluffy orange mass.

"Oh, hey Stan!" Kyle waved hello, "Did you see Cartman's 'surprise' yet? Was it good?"

"Hell yeah, I saw it!" Stan's tears went on, "And no, it wasn't good! Kyle, you blockhead!!"

In a rage greater than ever before, Stan was already heading home, not giving a hoot that school was still going on.

_So…_ Kyle thought, _Cartman said that you would like it, but it hurt you instead. I'm going over to Mr. Wich's room now and giving that prick Cartman a piece of my mind._


	9. Revealed Darkness

Chapter 9

Even as they worked on making graphics on Adobe Illustrator, Mr. Wich's students still talked about Stan's healing abilities and whatnot.

"Stan is sooo creepy, isn't he?" Bebe spoke in a stereotypical girl voice.

"Tell me about it!" Wendy replied in the same tone, "He has no right to invade our privacies! Gross!!"

"He's gonna get a good ass-whipping with the school and with his parents! Y'all watch!" said Craig Tucker in his nasal voice.

Tweek was about to chime in with another comment when all of a sudden, they heard the door slam open.

"Well, speak of the devil!" Cartman got up with an evil grin, "If it isn't Kyle Broflovski, the one who told us of Stan's heritage!"

"You douchebag…" Kyle growled despite his pains, "Do you know… Do you have any goddamned idea… how much you hurt him?"

"That's the point!" Cartman cackled, "Damn pussy needs to be tossed around once in a while."

This prompted Kyle to deliver a clean, hard punch to Cartman's nose, causing it to turn scarlet.

"If you _**ever**_ talk smack about my best friend again, I swear to _God_ that I'll have your head. Capice?" Kyle warned, swiftly leaving the room before he got in trouble.

"Craig," Mr. Wich called the boy with the blue hat over, "Escort Cartman to the nurse's office."

~Meanwhile, with poor Stanley~

_Damn him…_ Stan was halfway to his house now, and his heart was racing out of exhaustion, _Damn that jerk! Kyle, I trusted you!!_

After finally arriving at his house, Stan tossed his handbag on the ground. This sound only attracted the attention of his parents.

"Stanley Marsh!" Randy tried to catch up to his son, "Why are you home early?"

"Go away!" Stan rebuked his parents, "Leave now!"

Stan went into his room and slammed the door shut.

"Stanley?" Sharon banged on the door, "What's wrong?"

"I'm not telling!" Stan's pains were at their peak, and he cried.

"You have to! We order you to!" Randy demanded.

"Okay, just don't bug me afterwards, okay?" Stan gave in, "The whole school knows… that I am a Branded."

"What?!" Sharon's face contorted with horror, "I thought that your father and I told you not to tell anyone about your brand! Who was the first one you told?"

"Kyle," Stan bluntly replied.

"We specifically ordered you **not** to let him of all people know!" How _dare_ you defy us?!"

~Back at South Park High School, right after the bell rang~

"Mfpmppffm, pmpffmpmfmpp, fppmfpmpppffmpp mpmmffmpm fmmfmpmmmppp mfmppf?" Kenny asked as he and Kyle were still in the room.

"You got me," Kyle replied.

"Mmpfmffmp ffmppffmf ppffmfmfmmfpfmp fmpppf pmppppppffpp! Ffmppffmf fmmmmmfpp mfpmffppm, mpmmffmpmpppfmp ffmppffmf?"

"Well, yeah, but… I dunno."

Just then, they heard Mr. Wich talking on the phone to Sharon.

"Yeah, he's home," Sharon said.

"Okay…" Mr. Wich nodded, "Okay… Okay, Mrs. Marsh, make sure you discipline him."

With that, Mr. Wich hung up the phone.

"Ppfmfpppmmffmfmppffmmmfp! Fmmfmpmmmppp mfffmm mmmfmp mfpppfppmmpp?!" Kenny was excited, though not in a good way.

"Apparently…" Kyle uttered, "Sorry, Kenny, I'm going to go to Stan's house to check things out!"

Then, without warning, Kyle began to run to Stan's house as promised.

~Right at the Marsh's front door~

"Ding-dong…" went the doorbell.

"Kyle?" Randy said as he saw the orange-haired beauty.

"Please! I really need to see Stan!" Kyle begged.

"Not _you_," Sharon came up to the door.

"Fine," Kyle appeared to give up, "I'll have to charge _through_ you!"

Kyle unexpectedly charged through his best friend's parents.

"Kyle!" Randy growled, "Get the hell back here, you turdbucket!!"

Kyle ignored them, of course. How could he not? He hurriedly went upstairs to the front of Stan's room.

"Stan?! Stan!!" Kyle shouted as he banged the door, "It's me, Kyle."

"Kyle…?" Stan spoke lifelessly, "The one who ruined my reputation at school and told my ex?"

"At least let me talk…"

Without warning, the door flew open, as if by magic.

"Stan!" Kyle's pupils significantly shrank, "Did you… did you do that?"

"I did…" Stan sounded like he was dying.

"Why is it so dark?" Kyle tried to physically feel for Stan.

"The darkness… makes me feel comfortable."

"Stan?! You're out of your frickin' mind…"

"_You're_ the one who's out of your mind!!"

"Stan…"

"Go away, Kyle!" Stan turned his whole body away from the Jewish boy.

"But Stan!"

"Why? Why did you tell everyone about my brand?" the Branded now faced Kyle, awash in tears, "You **knew** the horrid history behind it! You **knew** that if everyone found out, nobody would ever love me or look at me the same way again! Even my own parents abandoned me because they could not stand the presence of someone of mixed blood... And now, even my foster family would not tell me until it was too late! Of all people... I thought you would understand, Kyle. I thought that if anyone would keep my brand a secret, it would be you. I trusted you! It s-seems I was wrong."

"Stan, please..." Kyle touched Stan on the shoulder, only to be shoved off in melancholy.

"Now look at me," Stan came out of hiding in the darkness, and a scary aura surrounded him, "Because of what you have done, _this_ is what I am now."

From this light, a number of feathers scattered. Stan now had two wings, the right one black as onyx and the left one as white as pearls. He had cat ears poking through his hat, and a tail to match.

"Stan… What have you become?!" Kyle blinked many times.

"I am… _This_ is my true nature, the dormant powers from within me, the real blood that courses through my veins. Now that you know of my full heritage, you will do well to leave, Kyle."

"Stan, you have to-" Kyle attempted, only to get rebuked.

"Leave, now, and never come back!" Stan began to pelt books at him, "I hate you for making me this way! Sick bastard!!"

"At least let me explain..." Kyle felt tears of his own about to be shed.

"Twenty seconds tops," Stan stopped crying, "If you can't explain yourself in that much time, I will not be your friend anymore."

"Fine..." Kyle knew that he was short of time, but he couldn't bear to lose one so dear to him, "Cartman... he said that if I didn't tell him about your secret, he would go straight to your house and kill you. The thought of you dead... do you know how sad that makes me? Facing death and facing seclusion from society... which would you choose?"

"I would probably choose death..."

Kyle was so suddenly disgusted at what Stan had said that he slapped him very hard on the right cheek.

"You fucking idiot!" He now glared at Stan with a mixture of both anger and anguish, now crying, "You can't die! You just can't! Do you realize what would happen if you perished? You cannot be here anymore! That and the fact that..."

"That _what,_ Kyle?" Stan went back to sobbing, "Well, your twenty seconds are up! So get the hell out of here and never look at me again!!"

"Fine!" Kyle shot an enraged look at Stan, "Maybe you're better off dead, anyway!"

At those words, Kyle dashed out of the room, leaving the frightened apostle to cry his eyeballs out.

Meanwhile, on the way to his house, Kyle suddenly stopped walking and poured a seemingly endless amount of tears. He spoke aloud, knowing full well that Stan could probably read his mind if he thought.

"Why, Stan, why?" Kyle barely managed to utter, "You know that I never want to say I wish you dead. Why does it have to be this way? Why... ugh!!"

The pain that Kyle had been feeling ever since he told Cartman that Stan was a Branded had now begun to amplify. He could feel what Stan had once felt during the rash incident.

"What is happening to me... no!!"

Kyle felt the twinge concentrate in his back, head, and tailbone, but being absolutely nowhere else. It felt as if he was going to die and that he needed to call out to Stan via mind-speech.

_Stan! Stan, help me! I am in grave pain!!_ Kyle called out as loud as he could.

_Not as much pain as you put me in, dolt!_ Stan barked back.

_Huh? I really put you in that much pain?_ Kyle could not believe what he was experiencing.

_What are you talking about?!_

_I think I just read your mind…_

_Is this a joke? Get the hell away from me. You disgust me, demon._

_No, I'm serious!! _Kyle pleaded, _You know that rash from a while back? Well, now, I'm feeling something very similar to that! _

_Well, I don't care what happens to you anyway, you asshole._

_Stan! I'm going to die! It's... AUGH!!!!_

_Kyle, don't joke around like..._

After a while, Kyle still didn't reply, and despite what happened before, Stan quickly grew worried.

_Kyle? Kyle!!!! Hold on, I'll be right there!_

Stan flew (literally and non-literally) to where he sensed Kyle. He looked for such a long time that he thought all hope was lost.

_Dammit, Kyle, where the hell are you? Huh?_

All of his doubts nearly ended as Stan came across a whirlwind of pure white feathers, much like that of his left wing. When it eventually cleared, Stan was shocked at what he saw.

"K-_Kyle?_" The apostle put his hands over his mouth, "I-I-Is that _you?_"

"Stan..."

Kyle now looked up at the apostle. Stan had every right to be alarmed as he gazed upon Kyle's gorgeous white wings, wolf ears, and sleek tail.


	10. Revealed Light

Chapter 11

_It's your birthday soon, Stan?_ Kyle asked as they flew above their families.

_You didn't know?_ Stan giggled, _I guess that was what Izanami meant by "the child I bore 17 years ago"…_

_Well, in any case, Happy Birthday, dude._

_Thanks._

_When's the party?_

_Didn't you hear Dad? It's Saturday of next week. Can you make it?_

_Yeah. Luckily there are football games on Sundays and Fridays, not Saturdays…_

The two finally landed at the Marsh home, exhausted from a long night.

"Oh, I forgot one major point," Sheila just realized.

"What is that?" Kyle asked.

"Kyle, do you know where your laguz blood comes from?"

"No, not exactly."

"The reason Sharon called you 'Prince' was that you are the prince of both the wolf kingdom of Hatari and the lost heron kingdom of Serenes," Sheila then turned to Stan, "As for you, Stan, you're not only the prince of Begnion, but you also are tied to the royal families of Gallia, Serenes, the beorc nation of Daein, and the raven kingdom of Kilvas. That's about 75% of the whole continent of Tellius!"

"Quite a responsibility for one so young!" Randy laughed.

"Don't rub it in, people," Stan had a horrified look on his face.

"Well, we better go home, now," Gerald declared as he took Ike's hand and the Broflovskis were on their merry little way.

"Bye, Stan," Kyle still remained, even after his parents made their way for home.

"I can't wait to see you at my party!" Stan endearingly smiled, "I'll see to it that you get the greatest portions of food!"

"Oh, that's not necessary," Kyle blushed lightly, "I don't want to cause your family too much trouble. Well, bye."

"Bye."

_Hee…_ Kyle laughed, _Your dad is really silly sometimes._

Stan giggled back, _I know._

The two boys laughed together.

"Hey, what are you laughing about?" Randy thundered, "You better not be using mind-speech, you twits!"

"Oh, we were just recalling something, Mr. Marsh," Kyle told Randy as he and Stan continued to laugh, "I really gotta go now, though! You'll love what I-"

"What you _what?_" Stan beamed, "What you got for my birthday?"

"Uh…" Kyle once again tried to dodge yet another question, "Good luck on the math test tomorrow!"

Leaving it at that, Kyle flew away to his house, which was not very far from Stan's house.

"We don't have a math test tomorrow…" Stan worried somewhat. For he knew that his Algebra II Honors class had been learning about quadratic functions and factoring – not something he was very good at.

~But the next school day…~

"Okay, class!" Ms. Choksondik announced as soon as the 10-minute morning announcements were over, "Get out two sheets of paper, one to cover your answers and the other to do work! We are having a Chapter 5 Quadratics test!"

_Oh, shit…_ Stan's heart sank, _I guess we really_ did _have a test… Kyle, I didn't study. Can you mind-message me some of the answers?_

_Sure,_ It did not take long for Kyle to agree, _Anything for you, especially since-_

_It's my birthday. Yes, yes, I know._

And so the class started what could possibly be the hardest algebra test in the world. Stan managed to do quite well, however, but almost Christmas-treed a few.

_Hey, Kyle_

_What?_

_What's the answer to number 15?_

_Did you try it, at least?_

_Yeah. But no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get an answer that is one of the choices._

_Sigh… You're so hopeless sometimes, Apostle. Fine. The answer is 2x squared +3x+20=y. Satisfied?_

_All right. Thanks, Kyle._

_No prob, dude._ Kyle blushed slightly.

The rest of the class went rather smoothly. Stan constantly asked Kyle questions about the test, for all of which Kyle answered them correctly.

"All right!" Stan cheered when the bell rang to go to second period, "I bet you we aced that test!"

"What do you mean, _we?_" Kyle was somewhat irritated, _I mind-speeched you about ¼ of the whole test!"_

_Right… Sorry… It's just that I didn't study._

_God, I worry about you sometimes, Stan. If I keep on telling you the answers, you will never learn!_

_Dude, Kyle, take a chill pill. The way you're acting, I would think that you have a crush on me or something._

_No, you know I have a crush on Wendy…_

_Oh, yeah. That one time you told me that… it was in the hospital. I remember…_

_You sure as_ hell _better remember. Or else…_

_Or else what?_

_Nothing, nothing, nothing at all! Time for shop class!!_

At that time, the two boys were already in the class, far sooner than expected.

"Okay, boys," Mr. Bob had no need to say "everyone", since all of the class' students were males, "If you haven't finished your vegetable oil-coating project, continue to do so. Otherwise, you may _quietly_, and I do mean _quietly_ socialize. Okay?"

"Good, good," Kyle nodded, "I've been done with that for a while. How about you, Stan?"

"Oh, no," Stan replied, "But I am almost done."

"May I… Um… watch you?"

"Watch me? But why? I'm just coating wood with vegetable oil. Nothing special. If you insist, though, I guess it's okay."

"Thanks.'

Stan got immediately to the other end of the classroom, where the tubs of vegetable oil were. He took a piece of wood from a cupboard, putting it in the tub. Despite how odd it sounded, Kyle enjoyed watching Stan doing this. Even the mere dripping of the golden dew on the dull wood made it coruscate like pure gold. Stan's finished project was very commendable.

"Phew!" Stan wiped his brow, "Finally done!"

_I… I think it's time,_ Kyle thought.

"What? What is it time to do?" Stan looked up at Kyle.

"Uh.. you'll see."

Kyle felt somewhat giddy as he went to the other side of the room, where the cubbies were. From one of them, he pulled out something that appeared to be a small present. When Kyle walked up to Stan, his heart was pounding.

"What is that you have there?" Stan peeked behind Kyle's back.

_C'mon, Kyle,_ Kyle tried to gather all of his courage, _It's now or never!_

"Here," Kyle gave Stan the wrapped present with its rather fruity ribbons and blue wrapping, "Happy Birthday."

"For me?" Stan's eyes lit up, "I have to say I am rather touched. May I open it?"

"Of course."

Stan needed no other words as he carefully undid the wrapping on his present. Apparently, a lot of Japanese culture had influenced him, so he took care not to rip the paper in Kyle's face. When it was cleanly unwrapped, Stan could not be any happier at what he saw.

"Oh my GOD!!" Stan jumped, holding the book in his hands, "Junjou Romantica volume 8?! How in the seven HELLS did you get it? It just came out a few days ago! Not one bookstore in the whole world could have it..."

"Not so..." Kyle held up a finger, "That one bookstore we went to at the South Park Mall had it, but just one volume."

"Thank you, Kyle!" Stan glomped Kyle nearly to the ground in thanks.

But just as the young apostle did this, Cartman managed to catch sight of it, giggling, "Ooh... Stan and Kyle, sitting in a tree..."

At this point, all of the class, with the exception of Wendy, chimed in, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!!"

"Man, you two look totally gay!" Cartman taunted.

"And he even went to the ends of the Earth to get you the rarest manga in the world!" Craig rudely added, "Aww, how sweet!"

"A Branded boy and his winged hero!" Butters could not think of any better words to use.

The whole class only continued to put shame on Kyle.

"Um..." Kyle was at a total loss for words. In a dazed action, he grabbed his handbag and left for class.

"Kyle!" Stan began to chase after Kyle. The bell rang to go to lunch, so the whole class left with him.

Stan attempted to search for Kyle throughout the entire hallway, despite the fact that there were classes still going on. Perhaps Kyle wanted to take advantage of his new wings, and maybe he was in a tree or something, Stan thought. In ten seconds, the goddess' voice told him just that.

"Kyle!" Stan flew up to the highest tree around the school, which towered to 25 feet high.

"Stan!" Kyle averted the Branded's gaze, "Go away!"

"But Kyle, at least let me talk to you..."

"It was the goddess' voice, isn't it? She told you I would be here... Goddammit!!"

"Be that as it may, Kyle... You can't let Cartman get to you. He does crap like that all the time; let it go. You're straight - you said so yourself. Hey, watch it! Your bag is falling!!"

It was too late, however, as Kyle's entire handbag fell from the tree, mysteriously staying intact the whole fall. Much to Kyle's dismay, he held a book in his hand.

"Huh," Stan breathed, squinting at the book's front cover, "What's that? _How to Deal With True Love?_ Why the hell would you need a book like that? You already have Bebe... And with your smarts, athletic abilities, and stunningly good looks, you could nab Wendy, or any girl for that matter, in no time."

"No, I told you that we broke up!" Kyle roared, "And I'm **not** in love with Wendy."

"But I thought you said in shop class that you did."

"Um… well... that is, I…"

"And you even marked the part where it says 'What To Do If the Other Person is a Guy'. Kyle, are you really gay? Don't be afraid to admit to who you are."

"I'm not gay!"

"Then why did you mark this? Is it for someone else? Kyle, it is damned time you told me who you like already. I'm sick and tired of having to guess. You act all strange around Wendy, Bebe, and other girls, and I'm not sure which is the one you like. Can you tell me?"

"All right… I'll tell you. But, Stan, can you promise me this?"

"What?"

"That we'll still stay friends forever and that you would not laugh?"

"Of course. I swear it."

"Okay, then…"

"Kyle?" Stan stooped his head slightly so that he looked Kyle in the eyes, "Are you okay? Do you need to go see Nurse Gollum?"

"N-no..." Kyle's heart wanted to escape his chest, "Stan, I... Forgive me, but... I really love… love… Swear to me again that you will not laugh or otherwise diss me."

"Okay. I think we've established that. Just tell me who it is.. Tell me right out!"

"Stan! I don't love Wendy, Bebe, or any other girls! _You're_ the one that I love!!"

"L-love?" Stan could not surmise a definite thought, "Oh, I see. I love you, too. You're my best friend in the whole world."

"No, listen! You're the one who wanted to ask. I'm totally head-over-heels in love with you, Stan! It's not _just_ a mere crush! I… I would die for you, for any reason whatsoever. I just feel it that you're the only one for me!!"

"Then... That time during shop class... The bookstore... The whole damned reason why you acted both flustered and angry around me lately... You were actually in love with me?"

"Dumbass!!" Kyle bared his wolf fangs and growled, as if he was feral, "I thought you were the Apostle of Begnion, and that you were wise! Of course I love you! All of my actions thus far... they were in your good name! Stan..."

"I... I don't know what to say..." Stan's coloring made him seem like he was about to go into shock.

"Stan!"

"What the..."

Without any warning, Kyle had seized Stan's face. Their wandering gazes had met, and Stan could feel Kyle's arousing breath on his lips, as warm as day. But just as Stan could literally taste the savor of the sacred air, he pushed its source away.

"Kyle, get the hell away..." Stan could almost feel in his chest what Kyle was feeling in his own, and was afraid that Kyle felt his heart beating, "I'm sorry, but... I don't... I know you're my best friend and all, but... We're both guys. I'll accept your feelings and all that, and we can still be the best friends we've always been. But... I can't guarantee you that we'll ever be more than that."

"I see..." Kyle would have cried if he weren't so manly.

"I'm very sorry..."

Just as Kyle was about to open his mouth again, Principal Balls came out of the school, shouting, "Where did those two misfits go?"

"Damn!" Kyle was ready to leap out of the tree as he morphed into his winged wolf form, "Gotta go before they catch us. Hurry up and transform into your winged cat form before you get caught."

"You can go..." Stan transformed into a cat anyway, "I'm going down there so I don't get as busted as you're about to become."

"Suit yourself," Kyle took wing on the sky, clearly heading for his house.

Meanwhile, Stan flew as fast as he could to the rear of the school, landed, and then met Principal Balls at the front door of the school.

"Stanley Marsh!" The principal put his hands to his hips, "Why are you out here instead of being in class like you should?"

"But it's lunch time, Principal Balls!" Stan explained.

"Oh," Principal Balls shrugged, "Well, sorry, then. But it appears you only have ten minutes to get to your next period class, so get a move on!"

"Dad's right," Principal Ball's eldest son, Dicken, reinforced his father.

"Better get inside before you get yammered at again," One of the principal's adopted Thai daughters, Sukmai, said.

The minute the principal left, Stan called out to Kyle via mind-speech, _Kyle, it's okay! You still have ten minutes to make it to Spanish class!_

_No, I think I'll stay home,_ was Kyle's sad reply, _I... I don't feel well._

_Kyle, I really am sorry for what you have been through. I appreciate your feelings for me. Really. So come back._

_I can't... Honestly, if I saw you right now, I think I would go crazy..._

Kyle then put a thick wall like the one of Berlin around his head to prevent Stan from reading his thoughts.

Kyle? Kyle!! Stan attempted to break that wall. But even as the apostle, he couldn't.

_Kyle, words cannot express how sorry I am. It's just... I'd rather be just a friend forever with you that be your lover and end up hurting you in the long run._


	11. Friendship and Love

Chapter 11

_It's your birthday soon, Stan?_ Kyle asked as they flew above their families.

_You didn't know?_ Stan giggled, _I guess that was what Izanami meant by "the child I bore 17 years ago"…_

_Well, in any case, Happy Birthday, dude._

_Thanks._

_When's the party?_

_Didn't you hear Dad? It's Saturday of next week. Can you make it?_

_Yeah. Luckily there are football games on Sundays and Fridays, not Saturdays…_

The two finally landed at the Marsh home, exhausted from a long night.

"Oh, I forgot one major point," Sheila just realized.

"What is that?" Kyle asked.

"Kyle, do you know where your laguz blood comes from?"

"No, not exactly."

"The reason Sharon called you 'Prince' was that you are the prince of both the wolf kingdom of Hatari and the lost heron kingdom of Serenes," Sheila then turned to Stan, "As for you, Stan, you're not only the prince of Begnion, but you also are tied to the royal families of Gallia, Serenes, the beorc nation of Daein, and the raven kingdom of Kilvas. That's about 75% of the whole continent of Tellius!"

"Quite a responsibility for one so young!" Randy laughed.

"Don't rub it in, people," Stan had a horrified look on his face.

"Well, we better go home, now," Gerald declared as he took Ike's hand and the Broflovskis were on their merry little way.

"Bye, Stan," Kyle still remained, even after his parents made their way for home.

"I can't wait to see you at my party!" Stan endearingly smiled, "I'll see to it that you get the greatest portions of food!"

"Oh, that's not necessary," Kyle blushed lightly, "I don't want to cause your family too much trouble. Well, bye."

"Bye."

_Hee…_ Kyle laughed, _Your dad is really silly sometimes._

Stan giggled back, _I know._

The two boys laughed together.

"Hey, what are you laughing about?" Randy thundered, "You better not be using mind-speech, you twits!"

"Oh, we were just recalling something, Mr. Marsh," Kyle told Randy as he and Stan continued to laugh, "I really gotta go now, though! You'll love what I-"

"What you _what?_" Stan beamed, "What you got for my birthday?"

"Uh…" Kyle once again tried to dodge yet another question, "Good luck on the math test tomorrow!"

Leaving it at that, Kyle flew away to his house, which was not very far from Stan's house.

"We don't have a math test tomorrow…" Stan worried somewhat. For he knew that his Algebra II Honors class had been learning about quadratic functions and factoring – not something he was very good at.

~But the next school day…~

"Okay, class!" Ms. Choksondik announced as soon as the 10-minute morning announcements were over, "Get out two sheets of paper, one to cover your answers and the other to do work! We are having a Chapter 5 Quadratics test!"

_Oh, shit…_ Stan's heart sank, _I guess we really_ did _have a test… Kyle, I didn't study. Can you mind-message me some of the answers?_

_Sure,_ It did not take long for Kyle to agree, _Anything for you, especially since-_

_It's my birthday. Yes, yes, I know._

And so the class started what could possibly be the hardest algebra test in the world. Stan managed to do quite well, however, but almost Christmas-treed a few.

_Hey, Kyle_

_What?_

_What's the answer to number 15?_

_Did you try it, at least?_

_Yeah. But no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get an answer that is one of the choices._

_Sigh… You're so hopeless sometimes, Apostle. Fine. The answer is 2x squared +3x+20=y. Satisfied?_

_All right. Thanks, Kyle._

_No prob, dude._ Kyle blushed slightly.

The rest of the class went rather smoothly. Stan constantly asked Kyle questions about the test, for all of which Kyle answered them correctly.

"All right!" Stan cheered when the bell rang to go to second period, "I bet you we aced that test!"

"What do you mean, _we?_" Kyle was somewhat irritated, _I mind-speeched you about ¼ of the whole test!"_

_Right… Sorry… It's just that I didn't study._

_God, I worry about you sometimes, Stan. If I keep on telling you the answers, you will never learn!_

_Dude, Kyle, take a chill pill. The way you're acting, I would think that you have a crush on me or something._

_No, you know I have a crush on Wendy…_

_Oh, yeah. That one time you told me that… it was in the hospital. I remember…_

_You sure as_ hell _better remember. Or else…_

_Or else what?_

_Nothing, nothing, nothing at all! Time for shop class!!_

At that time, the two boys were already in the class, far sooner than expected.

"Okay, boys," Mr. Bob had no need to say "everyone", since all of the class' students were males, "If you haven't finished your vegetable oil-coating project, continue to do so. Otherwise, you may _quietly_, and I do mean _quietly_ socialize. Okay?"

"Good, good," Kyle nodded, "I've been done with that for a while. How about you, Stan?"

"Oh, no," Stan replied, "But I am almost done."

"May I… Um… watch you?"

"Watch me? But why? I'm just coating wood with vegetable oil. Nothing special. If you insist, though, I guess it's okay."

"Thanks.'

Stan got immediately to the other end of the classroom, where the tubs of vegetable oil were. He took a piece of wood from a cupboard, putting it in the tub. Despite how odd it sounded, Kyle enjoyed watching Stan doing this. Even the mere dripping of the golden dew on the dull wood made it coruscate like pure gold. Stan's finished project was very commendable.

"Phew!" Stan wiped his brow, "Finally done!"

_I… I think it's time,_ Kyle thought.

"What? What is it time to do?" Stan looked up at Kyle.

"Uh.. you'll see."

Kyle felt somewhat giddy as he went to the other side of the room, where the cubbies were. From one of them, he pulled out something that appeared to be a small present. When Kyle walked up to Stan, his heart was pounding.

"What is that you have there?" Stan peeked behind Kyle's back.

_C'mon, Kyle,_ Kyle tried to gather all of his courage, _It's now or never!_

"Here," Kyle gave Stan the wrapped present with its rather fruity ribbons and blue wrapping, "Happy Birthday."

"For me?" Stan's eyes lit up, "I have to say I am rather touched. May I open it?"

"Of course."

Stan needed no other words as he carefully undid the wrapping on his present. Apparently, a lot of Japanese culture had influenced him, so he took care not to rip the paper in Kyle's face. When it was cleanly unwrapped, Stan could not be any happier at what he saw.

"Oh my GOD!!" Stan jumped, holding the book in his hands, "Junjou Romantica volume 8?! How in the seven HELLS did you get it? It just came out a few days ago! Not one bookstore in the whole world could have it..."

"Not so..." Kyle held up a finger, "That one bookstore we went to at the South Park Mall had it, but just one volume."

"Thank you, Kyle!" Stan glomped Kyle nearly to the ground in thanks.

But just as the young apostle did this, Cartman managed to catch sight of it, giggling, "Ooh... Stan and Kyle, sitting in a tree..."

At this point, all of the class, with the exception of Wendy, chimed in, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!!"

"Man, you two look totally gay!" Cartman taunted.

"And he even went to the ends of the Earth to get you the rarest manga in the world!" Craig rudely added, "Aww, how sweet!"

"A Branded boy and his winged hero!" Butters could not think of any better words to use.

The whole class only continued to put shame on Kyle.

"Um..." Kyle was at a total loss for words. In a dazed action, he grabbed his handbag and left for class.

"Kyle!" Stan began to chase after Kyle. The bell rang to go to lunch, so the whole class left with him.

Stan attempted to search for Kyle throughout the entire hallway, despite the fact that there were classes still going on. Perhaps Kyle wanted to take advantage of his new wings, and maybe he was in a tree or something, Stan thought. In ten seconds, the goddess' voice told him just that.

"Kyle!" Stan flew up to the highest tree around the school, which towered to 25 feet high.

"Stan!" Kyle averted the Branded's gaze, "Go away!"

"But Kyle, at least let me talk to you..."

"It was the goddess' voice, isn't it? She told you I would be here... Goddammit!!"

"Be that as it may, Kyle... You can't let Cartman get to you. He does crap like that all the time; let it go. You're straight - you said so yourself. Hey, watch it! Your bag is falling!!"

It was too late, however, as Kyle's entire handbag fell from the tree, mysteriously staying intact the whole fall. Much to Kyle's dismay, he held a book in his hand.

"Huh," Stan breathed, squinting at the book's front cover, "What's that? _How to Deal With True Love?_ Why the hell would you need a book like that? You already have Bebe... And with your smarts, athletic abilities, and stunningly good looks, you could nab Wendy, or any girl for that matter, in no time."

"No, I told you that we broke up!" Kyle roared, "And I'm **not** in love with Wendy."

"But I thought you said in shop class that you did."

"Um… well... that is, I…"

"And you even marked the part where it says 'What To Do If the Other Person is a Guy'. Kyle, are you really gay? Don't be afraid to admit to who you are."

"I'm not gay!"

"Then why did you mark this? Is it for someone else? Kyle, it is damned time you told me who you like already. I'm sick and tired of having to guess. You act all strange around Wendy, Bebe, and other girls, and I'm not sure which is the one you like. Can you tell me?"

"All right… I'll tell you. But, Stan, can you promise me this?"

"What?"

"That we'll still stay friends forever and that you would not laugh?"

"Of course. I swear it."

"Okay, then…"

"Kyle?" Stan stooped his head slightly so that he looked Kyle in the eyes, "Are you okay? Do you need to go see Nurse Gollum?"

"N-no..." Kyle's heart wanted to escape his chest, "Stan, I... Forgive me, but... I really love… love… Swear to me again that you will not laugh or otherwise diss me."

"Okay. I think we've established that. Just tell me who it is.. Tell me right out!"

"Stan! I don't love Wendy, Bebe, or any other girls! _You're_ the one that I love!!"

"L-love?" Stan could not surmise a definite thought, "Oh, I see. I love you, too. You're my best friend in the whole world."

"No, listen! You're the one who wanted to ask. I'm totally head-over-heels in love with you, Stan! It's not _just_ a mere crush! I… I would die for you, for any reason whatsoever. I just feel it that you're the only one for me!!"

"Then... That time during shop class... The bookstore... The whole damned reason why you acted both flustered and angry around me lately... You were actually in love with me?"

"Dumbass!!" Kyle bared his wolf fangs and growled, as if he was feral, "I thought you were the Apostle of Begnion, and that you were wise! Of course I love you! All of my actions thus far... they were in your good name! Stan..."

"I... I don't know what to say..." Stan's coloring made him seem like he was about to go into shock.

"Stan!"

"What the..."

Without any warning, Kyle had seized Stan's face. Their wandering gazes had met, and Stan could feel Kyle's arousing breath on his lips, as warm as day. But just as Stan could literally taste the savor of the sacred air, he pushed its source away.

"Kyle, get the hell away..." Stan could almost feel in his chest what Kyle was feeling in his own, and was afraid that Kyle felt his heart beating, "I'm sorry, but... I don't... I know you're my best friend and all, but... We're both guys. I'll accept your feelings and all that, and we can still be the best friends we've always been. But... I can't guarantee you that we'll ever be more than that."

"I see..." Kyle would have cried if he weren't so manly.

"I'm very sorry..."

Just as Kyle was about to open his mouth again, Principal Balls came out of the school, shouting, "Where did those two misfits go?"

"Damn!" Kyle was ready to leap out of the tree as he morphed into his winged wolf form, "Gotta go before they catch us. Hurry up and transform into your winged cat form before you get caught."

"You can go..." Stan transformed into a cat anyway, "I'm going down there so I don't get as busted as you're about to become."

"Suit yourself," Kyle took wing on the sky, clearly heading for his house.

Meanwhile, Stan flew as fast as he could to the rear of the school, landed, and then met Principal Balls at the front door of the school.

"Stanley Marsh!" The principal put his hands to his hips, "Why are you out here instead of being in class like you should?"

"But it's lunch time, Principal Balls!" Stan explained.

"Oh," Principal Balls shrugged, "Well, sorry, then. But it appears you only have ten minutes to get to your next period class, so get a move on!"

"Dad's right," Principal Ball's eldest son, Dicken, reinforced his father.

"Better get inside before you get yammered at again," One of the principal's adopted Thai daughters, Sukmai, said.

The minute the principal left, Stan called out to Kyle via mind-speech, _Kyle, it's okay! You still have ten minutes to make it to Spanish class!_

_No, I think I'll stay home,_ was Kyle's sad reply, _I... I don't feel well._

_Kyle, I really am sorry for what you have been through. I appreciate your feelings for me. Really. So come back._

_I can't... Honestly, if I saw you right now, I think I would go crazy..._

Kyle then put a thick wall like the one of Berlin around his head to prevent Stan from reading his thoughts.

Kyle? Kyle!! Stan attempted to break that wall. But even as the apostle, he couldn't.

_Kyle, words cannot express how sorry I am. It's just... I'd rather be just a friend forever with you that be your lover and end up hurting you in the long run._


	12. The Feral One

Chapter 12

Even though he barely went scot-free for what happened, Stan wasn't about to let Kyle do what he was doing without trying.

It was now lunchtime for South Park High School, and many of his fangirls were wondering where their beloved "Prince Kyle" had gone.

"Oh, Prince Kyyylllllleeeeee……" they wailed in hopes of luring him back. These attempts, of course, were to no avail. They were totally unaware of what was happening to him just now.

"Mfpmppffm, fppmfpmpppffmpp mpmmffmpm pmpffmpmfmpp mfmppf?" Kenny asked out of worry.

"I don't know… honestly, I wish I knew the answer to that question," Stan shook his head in shame.

"Fmfmfmmfp... ppmffm mfpmppmmmmpm mfpfmfpfffmpfmm mmmpmfpmf ppfmpf mmm fmmfmfmpmmpmmppppp. Mfpppffpp mmmmmpppffmffmp ffmppffmf, fmmfmpmmmppp?" Kenny put his hand to his forehead.

"I'm perfectly fine," Stan hesitated somewhat, "Is it that bad?"

"Ffmmppfmm... Mff fmpmfpmffppppmp Mffpmfpmf mfmppf fmpppf pppfmfpfffmmmpp mfmppfpmfpmffmfppmfmm ppfmpfmpfmffmmfmpp pppppffpp," Kenny finished his lunch and made his way for Nurse Gollum's office.

_What is wrong with people today…_ Stan thought, sensing that more danger was going to occur that day.

He now left to go to 3rd period, which was Spanish class with Sr. Seymour Wiener as the teacher. But right after he dumped his trash, the person he least wanted to see at that moment suddenly approached him.

"Yo, what up?" Cartman laughed, poking Stan on the shoulder.

"Get the hell away, fat ass," Stan flattened his cat ears and hissed.

"Chill out," Cartman, intimidated, backed off, "Say, where's that goddamned Jew? I need him to finish my Spanish homework. He was always good at school, that one."

"What do you care?" Stan's tail fur now stood on end, and he bared his sharp cat fangs, "He is not a tool you can so easily use."

"Oh, I bet you did something to piss him off, is _that_ it?" Cartman seized Stan by the shirt. With a seemingly endless amount of strength, he took him over to the wall, right by a giant trash can.

"I'm not telling you jack-diddly," Stan growled, "Leave him alone, or I will rend you to small bits."

"Ooh, the little kitty-cat's going to 'rend me to small bits'!" Cartman cackled, "I'd like to see you try."

"It's on," Stan declared, "Let's take this outside, shall we?"

"Fine!"

It took only about ten minutes for the two boys, along with some spectators, to do this. They somehow managed to dodge the many deans, although it was not easy, by any means.

"You can't even fight me…" Stan laughed, "You haven't a weapon, and I can use my claws and teeth to tear you apart."

"Ah, but that is where you are mistaken…" Cartman reached in his backpack for a red-orange 15th-century book, "You see, my bloodline has been practicing the art of fire magic ever since the first Cartman was born."

"Heh," Stan scoffed, "You think I'll give in to a bit of fire? Don't make me laugh."

It was at that moment that Stan gathered a lot of energy, morphing into his winged cat form.

"All right!" Craig was to be the referee of the fight, "On my count, the fight will start. 1 for the money… 2 for the show… 3 to get ready… and 4… to… GO!!!!"

The second that Craig announced "GO!!!!", Stan leapt, aiming for Cartman's head. The fat fire mage barely managed to dodge the attack.

The brawling went on for quite a while. Both combatants were laden with heavy wounds, and nearly ready to throw in the towel. But Stan wasn't about to give up. He knew that if he did, Cartman would have free reign to diss Kyle. Again. Even so, he felt that he couldn't hold animal form for much longer.

"You fight rather well, Apostle!" Cartman laughed.

"Shut up!" Stan attempted to attack the "fatass" again.

This time, he sunk his teeth very deeply in Cartman's arm, causing little droplets of blood to drip.

"Not bad, not bad at all!" Cartman commended, "For one who has never fought in animal form, you are quite robust!"

"I'd do anything to protect Kyle from the likes of you!" Stan spoke through the blood seeping into his mouth.

"Aw, how sweet!" Cartman guffawed, "You guys want to get a room to make out for a little while? Are you… in _love_ him?"

Stan's grip on Cartman's arm grew weaker as he heard those strange words. Because of this, Cartman threw the winged cat off of him, looking into his spellbook and chanting words in an ancient language. When he finished this incantation, a fireball erupted from his hand, striking Stan square in the solar plexus.

"Ugh…" Stan fell back, switching to his humanoid form. When he did, there was a third degree burn on his chest.

"Hahahahaha!" Cartman chortled, "I win! Take that, Prince Stanley!"

"Oh my God…" a freshman girl came out of the school building. She was Protektmai Balls, another child of Principal Mayichi Balls.

"Call an ambulance, someone!" one of Protektmai's triplet sisters, Iytmai Balls, called, "Third degree burns are serious! He'll die if we don't do something soon!"

"No…" Stan managed to utter, "I… Don't call an ambulance, please…"

"But why?" The youngest child of the Balls family, Harry, came over, "Don't you want to live?"

"Yes, but…" Stan continued, feeling his voice grow raspy, "I can't die. Not of something like this."

Stan then tried to contact Kyle again through mind-speech, _Kyle… help me, please…_

_Like I said,_ Kyle responded, _If I saw you right now, I would… probably…_

_Tell your mother that I am dying…_

_What?!_ Kyle shook, _What happened?!?!_

_Cartman, he… he is a fire mage. He burnt me… put a third degree burn on me…_

_Don't say another word. I'll be right there, Stan._

But just as Kyle was about to do what he set out to do, his mother stopped him.

"Kyle, don't go out there!" Sheila held Kyle down as he struggled.

"But… but…" Kyle felt a great amount of chaos brew within him, "Stan… he needs me! He'll die of a horrible burn…"

"I understand," Sheila started, "But... with this much bedlam in you, you'll only kill yourself! Your father and I will go in your stead."

"Okay…" Kyle reluctantly agreed, "But you better protect him, or I'll… I'll probably kill you."

"Don't say that," Sheila told her son, then yanked at her husband's coat, "Let's go, Gerald. We haven't a moment to waste – time is of the essence."

"Right," Gerald nodded, heading out the door with his wife.

As soon as his parents were gone, Kyle thought, _Stan… I'm so sorry I can't help you. My parents are on the way as I speak…_

_But I don't want_ them, _Kyle,_ Stan thought back, _I'd much rather have you here…_

Kyle's heart temporarily stopped the minute he heard those words, and the chaos appeared to ease.

_N-not that I'm in love with you or anything! I… I don't like you that way! Only as a friend!_

Kyle drooped his wolf ears. His heart rate went up, and the chaos seemed to get worse.

~Meanwhile, with Stan, Gerald, and Sheila…~

"Stan, we'll take you to the emergency room now," Gerald said when they arrived on the scene.

"No…" Stan refused, "Take me to Kyle, now..."

"But Stan!" Sheila worried, "Do you realize what you are saying?"

"Yes."

"You will die if you don't get sutures on you burn within half an hour! Do you want that?"

"But…" Stan's voice sounded like two people were speaking at once, "There is one who is suffering far worse than I…"

"What the hell?!" Gerald was astounded, "But… Ashera? Is that you?"

"The lupine prince is… the most powerful chaos of all is inside him… If we do not do something about it soon, he'll…turn…"

But just before Stan was about to finish his sentence, the red color faded from his eyes, and he instantly lost consciousness.

"Gerald!" Sheila panicked, "We must take him to the hospital at once!"

"No…" Gerald disagreed with his wife.

"But why not? He's already lost consciousness, and it's only a matter of time before he dies!"

"Ashera told us that the 'lupine prince' was about to become entirely chaotic. She couldn't have meant…"

"Kyle!" the couple spoke simultaneously.

"We must trust Ashera's word and take Stan to see Kyle," Sheila finally agreed.

~On the way back to the Broflovski home…~

The Broflovskis rushed inside their home, both carrying Stan with them.

"I just hope it isn't too late…" Gerald grew almost as panicky as his wife.

When they finally reached Kyle's room, they opened the door. Much to their horror, Kyle was in his winged wolf form, eyes red and long fangs bared.

"Kyle!" Sheila gasped, "No! We're too late!!"

"Give… me… Stan…" Kyle snarled.

"Kyle, listen to me!" Gerald tried to get closer to his son, "You… We didn't hurt Stan! It was Cartman!"

"It doesn't matter," Kyle went on, "Anyone who thinks of messing with Stan will answer to me."

"No, Kyle! You can't become a Feral One!" Sheila began to cry.

"SILENCE!!"

Kyle charged for his mother, ready to tear her asunder. But as he was doing this, Stan magically regained consciousness, creating a barrier that protected Sheila.

"Gahh!!" Kyle fell back, becoming humanoid again.

"Stan!" Sheila set Stan on the ground, "You've come to!"

"Indeed," Stan stood up, even though he wobbled a little, "Yune, leave his body at once!"

"Yune?!" Gerald exclaimed, "The goddess of chaos?"

"But I have nowhere else to be…" Yune spoke from Kyle's body, "Chaos is where I thrive, Apostle Stanley, and there is no place more chaotic that this boy's heart."

"That's only because you are in it!" Stan barked, "Leave him now!"

_But it is not I that made him this way, Apostle…_ Yune went on using mind-speech, _You see… The moment you rejected his feelings, his regret for confessing to you became a mix of emotions, which evolved into pure chaos._

_But I never rejected him! I accepted his love, didn't I?_

_Ah, but Wolf Prince Kyle wants nothing more and nothing less that having the man he loves at his side forever._

_Grr…_ Stan could not take it anymore, _I'll free you soon, Kyle. Just wait!_

Without wondering why, Stan felt a musical air come about, and he began to sing a beautiful but poignant song. He had no idea where the lyrics came from, but had a deep gut feeling that the song would be the only thing to save Kyle from himself. When the song was finished about a minute later, Kyle fell to the ground, and Yune's spirit escaped.

"No… no way…" Kyle's parents were amazed at this miracle. They were so surprised, in fact, that they passed out from exhaustion.

"Kyle!" Stan rushed to Kyle's side, trying to establish the wolf prince's consciousness, "Are you okay?"

"Unh…" Kyle managed to open his eyes, "What happened, Stan?"

"You… the goddess of chaos, Yune, was inside of you," Stan explained, "I… You looked completely mad, like you were ready to kill anyone who tried to get close to you."

"..."

"Do you know... how _scared_ I was when you were about to lose your mind?!" Stan looked to the ground, filling it with saccharine tears, "If I lost you to your ferocious nature, I would kill myself…"

Kyle smiled, "You… you'd do that for me?"

Stan jolted, "Well… yeah. You're my best friend, and…"

But Stan was automatically silenced at Kyle brought him close, touching his lips to those of the young apostle. It felt euphoric, indeed, but Stan wasn't in love with Kyle, just totally confounded to no end.

"Kyle?!" Stan covered his lips with both hands, "What do you think you're doing?!?!"

"Just showing you how much I love you is all," Kyle sat up, snickering a little.

"Don't kiss me here!" Stan's pulse was uncontrollable, "What if… What if your parents suddenly awoke and saw you do that?"

"We could give them a show, then," Kyle stated rather bluntly but happily.

"But then they'll think I'm gay! And we can't ever see each other again…"

"Oh, so you want to be with me forever?" Kyle swished Stan's gorgeous hair.

"Not like that, dumbass!" Stan scolded, "You're. My. Best. Friend. How many times do I have to say it?"

"Sure…" Kyle put his right hand to his mouth, laughing, "You'll fall in love with me sooner or later, Stanley Marsh. It's inevitable."

"Oh, go to hell!" Stan laughed.

"Hey..." Kyle looked down at Stan.

"What?"

"Your burn... It's gone..."

Stan looked too in bewilderment, lightly laughing, "Oh... So it is... I wonder what healed it..."

"Maybe it was my kiss," Kyle gently stroked Stan's supple cheeks, "My love for you healed you, Apostle."

"Nuh-uh," Stan slapped Kyle's well-built hand away and shook his head multiple times, "That makes it sound like it comes from a corny romantic anime. And Kyle?"

"Yes?"

"Don't call me 'Apostle' so much... We're friends. It's like me calling you 'Great Prince Kyle' or something."

"Ooh, so you want me to call you by your first name, but you want everyone else at school, plus your parents, to call you 'Apostle Stanley'?"

"No, no, no! Besides, I let many others call me by my first name."

"Tee-hee..." Kyle poked the cat boy on the cheek, "You're _cute_, Stan. I like it when you act so flustered."

Stan turned tickle-me-pink and coughed sarcastically, "A-A-Anyway, I gotta go home. See you at school tomorrow!"

"See you," Kyle waved as Stan went out the house's door, but still laughing, "and Happy Valentine's Day."


	13. Mixed Emotions

Chapter 13

_Oh, yes, Valentine's Day is only the Friday before my birthday party…_ Stan realized, _I wonder if I should get something for Wendy… She'll probably get pissed, though._

When Stan landed at the front door of his house, he asked his parents, "Hey, Mom? Dad? Do Kyle and I have to go back to school?"

"Yeah, you do," Randy responded.

"Aww, weeeaaaaaaak!" Stan shamefully wailed, flying around the room and bouncing on everything.

"Enough, young man!" Randy grabbed his son's tail, dragging him out the door, "Go to school, or else!"

"Noooo!" Stan beat his wings as fast and as hard as he could, but was getting rather tired of doing so.

"Here's your handbag, by the way," Sharon tossed Stan's bag at him, "Do what your father says and go to school. And don't forget to tell Kyle that he needs to go to school too!"

"Yeah, yeah, you big nags…" Stan took off.

"Man, he's acting like such a teenager…" Sharon slapped her face, sliding her hand down it.

"You think that's because he _is?_" Randy comforted his wife, "Just think, in another year, he'll be a man…"

"I can't believe how fast our son is growing up…" Sharon took a handkerchief out of her pocket and blew into it.

~Meanwhile, with Stan…~

"Damn, I can't believe how stupid my parents can be sometimes…" Stan grumbled on the short trip to Kyle's house, "They treat me like I'm a kid and that I knew nothing. If Izanami were still alive, I'm sure she'd treat me so much better. But then, I wouldn't be the apostle if she were, now would I?"

Stan stopped his thought process as he touched his feet down at the Broflovskis' front door, and relaxed his wings. He pushed the fancy-looking doorbell with its curly French designs and whatnot.

"Yes?" Gerald had answered the door.

"May I see Kyle? I need to ask him something."

"Sure. Come on in, Apostle," Gerald gestured.

Stan entered the home, but just barely, since his wingspan was so broad (24 feet and 8 inches, to be exact). When he finally did, he felt immense pain in them, in part by both struggling from his parents, flying to the Broflovski house, and trying to get in the door.

"Ouch…" Stan knelt to the floor as feathers scattered, both dark and light.

"Are you okay, Apostle Stanley?" Sheila knelt by Stan's side.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Stan barely got up, "My wings really hurt, that's all."

"Oh, dear, what a shame," Sheila fretted.

"Well, I didn't come here to tell you to mend my wings," Stan brushed some lint and dust off of himself, "Where's Kyle?"

"In his room, taking a nap," Sheila pointed upstairs.

"Thank you, Mrs. Broflovski," Stan nodded, treaded to the room, and while on the stairs, called out, "And don't call me 'Apostle' all the time."

"But you are the voice of the goddesses Ashera of order and Yune of chaos," Gerald explained, "You are the only one who could ever hear both since that incident earlier today."

"What?"

"You heard Yune, did you not?"

"Well, yes, but… Didn't you hear her, too?"

"Not when she was using mind-speech! You're the only one who can hear her at that moment. Exactly like Apostle Micaiah."

"Well, I'll keep that in mind from now on. Just… I'm not used to feeling like royalty. It would actually keep me at ease if you didn't call me 'Apostle'."

"If that is what you wish."

"Well," Stan continued up the stairs, "I really came here to tell Kyle something."

When he entered the wolf prince's room, surely enough, he saw him there. Kyle catnapped like a small wolf pup, with his tail curled up and his ears twitching from time to time.

"Wow…" Stan blushed a little, "I wonder if this is what he looked like when he was born, or at least what he slept like."

Stan found it hard to resist taking Kyle's wolf ears by their tips and just playing with them, so that is just what he did.

"Aww…" Stan smiled and purred, but then stopped after half a minute, "Wait, what the hell am I doing? I just came to tell Kyle that it's time for school…"

Stan then resorted to mind-speech, _Hey, Kyle, wake up._

But Kyle didn't quite do so as he reached an arm out for Stan, grappled the apostle's neck, and planting a rather heavy kiss on his lips.

_Kyle…!_ Stan tried to fight for air as he felt like he was losing oxygen really quickly, _What kind of twisted fantasies do you have, dude?_

"Huh… wha?" Kyle blinked, wiping eye crust from his eyes, "What happened?"

"Principal Balls called my house," Stan explained, attempting not to make direct eye contact with Kyle.

"And?"

"He says we have to go back to school within 10 minutes."

"I see. Well, that stinks. Luckily we're dressed, huh?"

"Yeah. We better leave now."

"Right."

Both boys left that bedroom, rushing down the stairs and grabbing their school bags.

"Hey, where are you going, Kyle?" Sheila asked them as she was knitting something.

"Principal Balls said we still have to go to school," Kyle replied.

"Okay, then."

"Bye, big brother!" Ike waved as they left.

Kyle shut the door behind him.

"Well, let's go, or we're going to be in trouble," Kyle flapped his wings lightly to get into the air.

When Stan tried to do the same, though, he strained to even get 5 feet off the ground.

"What's wrong?" Kyle eased Stan to the ground.

"I… My wings are killing me.." Stan grabbed onto them, "Sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to fly for a while. Can I ride on you, instead?"

"Sure," Kyle readily agreed.

"Thank you," Stan thanked as he mounted himself onto Kyle's back.

Kyle could still fly rather well, even with extra baggage on him. On the contrary, Stan was rather lightweight, so he carried him rather well.

"Are you sure you want to carry me all the way?" Stan asked, "I could fly from here. I'm sure my wings could take it."

"No, I don't think they could," Kyle said, "If you want to fly well again, you should rest them as much as possible."

"Okay," Stan felt like he was going to hyperventilate for some reason, "Say, Kyle?"

"What is it?"

"What kind of dream… were you having right before I got in the room?"

"You really want to know that?"

"Yeah."

"Um… Don't laugh, but… I was dreaming that… That we were married and that we were dancing in a field of flowers."

"WHAT THE ****?!" Stan nearly fell off Kyle's back, "W-Well, it _is_ only a dream, after all!"

"Yes, unfortunately," Kyle said sadly, "You'll probably never fall in love with me, anyway. You're still in love with Wendy, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but… She'll never like me back. She already likes that one dude from 'La Resistance'."

"What a shame, then…" Kyle's wing beats seemed to grow somewhat weaker.

_What the hell…_ Stan growled, _Why is he asking me about Wendy? He knows that she is my darkest memory…_

"Sorry," Kyle apologized, "I'll never do that again."

"What?"

"You know, I am a lot more heron than you are. Thus I have a slightly better ability to sense people's thoughts than you."

"S***, I forgot about that…"

"And are you sick?" Kyle touched the back of his long wolf ear to Stan's forehead, "You're hot, and even from my back, your heart is beating very fast."

"Is that so?" Stan admitted that what Kyle was saying is true, though he was reluctant to do so, "Heh… I guess that the pain in my wings has bought about a fever!"

Luckily, the two landed the second Stan finished this sentence.

"No, I mean, it's _unnatural_," Kyle explained, "I touched the tip of my left ear to your forehead, and I though I stuck it in a preheated oven. And your pulse rate was so strong and so quick that I could feel your heart rather loud and clear, even with all the stuff in between it and my back. In fact, I even heard it."

"You just have way too good hearing!" Stan automatically dismounted Kyle, "That's just you showing off your laguz abilities!"

"No, really," Kyle seized Stan's shoulders, "It was loud and clear, like how a doctor listens to your heart through a stethoscope, except I didn't need one to hear yours. Ooh, are you just super-excited from being able to ride me? Are you actually faking your wing pain so you can ride my back?"

"No!" Stan complained, "I swear it's true! My wings hurt!"

"Uh-huh," Kyle laughed, almost diabolically, "You love me and you know it, Stan!"

"Shut up!" Stan growled in the way his cat blood wanted him to.

When Kyle was in a far enough distance to be unable to read his thoughts, Stan thought, _Crap, crap, crap. Holy friggin crap. If I don't find Wendy soon, I'm going to fall prey to Kyle's gayness._

_Stan, come_ on! Kyle shouted to Stan by use of a sending stone, which allowed them to telepathically communicate over extreme distances.

_How long until the first bell?_Stan asked.

_One minute. Hurry along, now._

_One freaking minute?!_ Stan worried, _Well, how do you expect me to get to Ms. Choksondik's class without using my wings?_

_Simple. Just run like an ordinary human being._

_Dammit… Fine._ Stan gave up, using ever calorie of energy to make it to his 1st period class.

It was only 10 seconds to the bell, now, and Stan had just entered the hallway, which contained his first period class.

_C'mon, I can still make it…_ he hoped.

_Five seconds,_ Kyle warned. _Five… four… three… two…_

Just before Kyle was about to count the last two seconds, Stan barged in the algebra classroom.

"Hah, made it," Stan panted, making his way to his seat behind Kyle.

"Good timing, dude," Kyle patted his best friend on the back as he sat down.

"Mr. Marsh, you are very lucky, young man," Ms. Choksondik eyed Stan carefully, "One more second later, and I would have had to send you to the dean's office for an afternoon detention."

"Right, right…" Stan laughed to try to appear innocent.

"But we don't want to spend this whole class period to discuss your near-tardiness, now do we?" The algebra teacher turned on the overhead, "No! We're going to talk about finding negative square roots!"

_Hey, Kyle,_ Stan tapped the Jewish boy on the shoulder.

_What?_

_You get this?_

_Of course. I'm the best student in the class, you know. Why, you don't?_

_Well… I get it for the most part. But…_

Their mind-speech was interrupted by Ms. Choksondik's voice.

"Okay, desk number 2, come up to the board and do this problem," Ms. Choksondik announced.

"Uh-oh," Craig whispered to Tweek, who sat next to him, "That's the hardest problem in the whole book. Whoever's number two is going to get it."

"Yeah…" Tweek shook as he spoke, "I can't get it, no matter how hard I try…"

"Well, you're kind of dumb, anyway," Clyde remarked from the seat to the right of Tweek.

"Hey!" Craig shot an angry look at Clyde.

"Desk number two…?" Ms. Choksondik tapped her foot, "Come up to the whiteboard, please."

_Stan, that's_ you, Kyle told Stan.

_What? No way! I didn't even do that problem!!_ Stan worried, but got up anyway.

"It's about time," Craig called from the "peanut gallery".

"At least do one step," Ms. Choksondik instructed.

"Okay…" Stan took an Expo marker the color of his hand, put the cap on the other end, and shook it nervously in his hand, _Crap, I can't do this!!_

_It's okay…_ Kyle encouraged, _Just take a deep breath and try to solve the problem._

Stan did as Kyle wanted, breathing calmly, trying to utilize his brain to do another step of the problem. He slowly moved the marker on the board and lifted it off. When he did, he asked Ms. Choksondik, "Is this correct?"

"Yeah, so far," Ms. Choksondik acknowledged, "Good work. You may sit down now."

_Phew, glad_ that's _over,_ Stan wiped his brow, _I hate math. Don't you, Kyle?_

_Uh-huh,_ Kyle nodded, _People think that just because I'm right on track to be the valedictorian of my class that I like school. But I hate it just as much as I hate Cartman for making fun of my religion._

"I'll take volunteers, now," Ms. Choksondik offered.

Now _you tell me that…_ Stan couldn't believe his ears.

_Don't worry,_ Kyle got out of his seat, I'll _go._

"Oh, it's the total smart-ass of the school," Cartman rolled his eyes.

"Shut up!" Stan's cat ears went flat and he growled, as if he were a full-blooded cat.

"Okay," Ms. Choksondik nodded.

"If I may, ma'am," Kyle began, "May I do the whole problem?"

"Of course," Ms. Choksondik permitted.

"Show off…" Cartman mumbled as Stan hissed at him again, "What, it's not like I'm talking about _Wendy_, you gaywad. You really have a thing for Kyle, don't you?"

"HELL NO!!" Stan looked away, trying to still his racing heart.

"Um, do I need to break you two up?" Ms. Choksondik crossly stared at Stan and Cartman.

"No…" Stan drooped his cat ears in embarrassment.

"Then behave like grown men," Ms. Choksondik scolded.

_Well, we aren't grown men, bitch,_ Stan grumbled.

"If I may…" Kyle couldn't believe what was going on.

"Right," Ms. Choksondik hurried the lesson along, "Sorry, Mr. Broflovski, continue."

"Thank you," Kyle turned around and took the marker Stan was using, gracefully completing the math problem.

_Wow, Kyle, you're good at math, you really are,_ Stan couldn't help but become amazed at Kyle's intelligence.

_Tee-hee…_ Kyle grinned as he did the problem, but refrained from actually making any unusual noises, _You praise me too much, Apostle._

_What did I say about calling me "Apostle"?_

_Oh, sorry. But anyway, thanks for the praise. You really… do love me, don't you?_

_Can you stop that, too? I don't love you that way, dammit!! Don't call me "Apostle" anymore, and stop saying I'm in love with you when you know damned well I'm not! Just… just do the math problem and stop teasing me!!_

Kyle frowned slightly as he stepped from the whiteboard, showing everyone his math work.

"Excellent!" Ms. Choksondik clapped, "All correct!"

Kyle's fangirls in the class, which amounted to about 16, squealed.

"Oh my God!!" Bebe happened to be one of them, "Isn't Prince Kyle just the _coolest?_"

"I know!" a random girl agreed wholeheartedly, "He's smart, athletic, very kind, and sooooooo handsome!!"

"Whoever he has a crush on is the luckiest bitch ever!" another anonymous girl wailed.

_Heh…_ Kyle smirked sexily, _Did you hear that, Stan? "Whoever he has a crush on is the luckiest bitch ever." You are lucky to have an awesome guy like me as your best friend and admirer. If only-_

_If only what? _

_Nothing. You said not to tease you anymore about you trying to fall in love with me, so I won't. Well, bye. Time for shop class._

Stan flushed a deep scarlet as soon as Kyle was far enough away, and distracted with greeting other students.

_I… I didn't say you couldn't…_ Stan's thought process stopped when he saw Bebe Stevens, along with other Kyle fangirls, appear out of nowhere in front of Kyle.

"Hi, Prince Kyle!" The girls gathered 'round.

"Oh, hey girls," Kyle smiled, "What's up?"

"That was _so_ cool what you did in Ms. Choksondik's class…" Bebe spoke in her annoying, girly-girl voice.

"Why, thank you," Kyle's grin could not be any sexier.

"Kyaaaa!!" The girls screamed, "Prince Kyle, you're cool!"

Stan was totally aghast at what he was seeing, _Kyle, stop… Stop associating with those girls as if you were a player. I know you're so much better than that! I thought you were in love with m-_

He suddenly stopped when he just realized what he was saying.

_What… What on_ Earth _am I saying? I'm acting like a jealous-_

His thoughts were interrupted by Wendy suddenly presenting herself before him.

"Hi, Stan!" she gleefully spoke as she did often.

"Hello," Stan calmly talked.

"It's going to be really hard in Mr. Bob's class today, so you better be prepared," Wendy said as she headed to said class.

"Okay, see you there," Stan waved, then thought, _Strange… I didn't feel giddy around her like I did when I was eight. My temperature was normal, and my pulse certainly was. Cartman might as well have been the one who had been talking to me, and I wouldn't fall in love with that douchebag for a million dollars. But around Kyle…_

Stan jolted at this mere thought, feeling a high core temperature and his heart slam rapidly and powerfully against his chest.

_But why do I feel this way just thinking about Kyle? Could what he has been saying be true? Could… could I possibly be… in… in…_

But Stan didn't want to go on any further, knowing full well that Kyle would read his mind if he did. He entered the shop classroom, barely keeping his mind off of that moment he flew with Kyle in the sky.


	14. Valentine

Chapter 14

"So, what are we doing in shop class today…" Stan thought aloud.

"Okay," Mr. Bob firmly set his hands on the table, "Today, we are going to build metal pipes to use as small chimneys all throughout the school. They will be used on portables and such. Get into your pairs."

The students scrambled throughout the classroom. Stan tried to look for Kyle, and quickly succeeded in doing so.

"Don't tell me…" Kyle put one of his hand in his own face and the other in front of him, "You want to be partners with me, right?"

"Well, yeah, dude," Stan cocked his head much like a young child would, and pointed his ears at the ceiling, "It's not like I really want to work with anyone else in this class."

"Okay," Mr. Bob got his class' attention after they followed his current instructions, "Before you get started, let me show you the basics of what you need to do. First, you cut the steel like this… Then you do this… Watch out. You _definitely_ need your work gloves for this, or you will be cut by the metal."

_I wonder if he realizes that he says we need work gloves for more than 90% of what we do in here…_ Stan looked at Kyle, giggling.

_I agree entirely,_ Kyle nodded.

"Okay, start," Mr. Bob prompted as he walked to his desk.

"Well, now…" Kyle went over to Stan, covering him from other people's view, "You don't want anyone to see your brand, do you?"

"Everyone knows already, so there's really no point," Stan took off the glove on his right hand, waving his rouge-colored mark in the air, "But thanks for the offer."

"I agree on that," Kyle now had both of his work gloves on, "Well, let's get to work. Hey, what's the matter with you?"

"That didn't sound very right…" Stan blushed, looking away from Kyle.

"Oh, come _on_," Kyle laughed, "You're acting like a virgin, Stan. In fact, you're acting like you've never even kissed anyone, boy or girl."

"You think that's because I _am_ a virgin?" Stan wanted to shout, but only loudly whispered, "Stop acting like you've done it with millions of girls."

_But_ I'm _still a virgin too, Stan…_ Kyle put Stan's right index finger to his mouth, _In fact, the only people I've ever kissed are Bebe and… you. And Bebe's ancient history now._

"Ahem…" Mr. Bob coughed from behind them, "I don't mean to interrupt you two loverboys, but… there's work to be done."

"Excuse me, sir," Kyle bowed his head in apology.

"I beg your pardon, Mr. Bob?" Stan could believe what the shop class teacher just said.

"Leave your homosexuality outside of this room," Mr. Bob's tone was not friendly in any way.

"Homophobe…" Stan muttered.

"What did you say, Mr. Marsh?" Mr. Bob put his hands to his hips and looked down at the adorable apostle of Begnion.

"Nothing!" Stan scurried from Kyle and Mr. Bob, "Come along, Kyle, we have work to do!"

"Riiiiight…" Kyle sensed some kind of trouble brewing within Stan, but there was a mix of too many different emotions to get something definite.

"So, I heard that Valentine's Day is tomorrow!" Stan nervously asked, "You getting something for someone?"

"Yeah, of course," Kyle took a sheet of metal and smiled at Stan.

"Oh, yeah…" Stan giggled, "I'm getting something for Wendy. So there!"

"Somehow, I sense that that's not what you _really_ think…" Kyle shook his head, both shamefully and happily.

"What?!"

_You see, I can see into the past and know virtually anything that happened to people,_ Kyle explained, _Just like you can see into the future, I can read people's pasts and have impeccable memory. Unlike _you.

"Oh, be quiet!" Stan hissed, "Do your work!"

"Yes, Mother," Kyle found it hard to contain his laughter, "Ouch!"

"What happened?"

"I cut myself on the metal…"

"Don't say that so loud! Someone will hear you."

"Why? I'm going to go to Nurse Gollum's office now."

"Sigh," Stan shook his head, "You're very hopeless, Kyle. Always getting hurt. Here, let me heal it for you."

"But why are you using Sacrifice here, for something so minor?"

"If it's only a small wound, it's nothing for me. I've been getting better at using Sacrifice. Besides, ever since that one football game, everyone has already known about it. Right? So please, let me heal it…"

"Damn, always the insistent one, eh, Apostle Stanley?" Kyle giggled, "Fine, go ahead."

"Thank you," Stan nodded as he took Kyle's hand in his own, touching a finger to where the wound was. It took only one or two seconds to heal this wound, and not too much energy from Stan.

"Are you sure you're all right, Stan?" Kyle put his hand to Stan's forehead.

"Yeah!" Stan furrowed his eyebrows, "I'm perfectly fine! Not a headache, no sweating, nothing!"

"I can tell you feel somewhat flustered, though…"

_What did I say about teasing me?_ Stan's tail stood erect while his ears went flat.

_So sorry, Stan. I apologize._ Kyle's face looked rather melancholy as his ears drooped.

_Oh, quit your whining. I didn't mean it like that,_ Stan patted his best friend on the shoulder, then reverting to regular speech, "After school today, you want to go to the mall to buy something for Valentine's Day? I've yet to do so."

"Sure," Kyle nodded, "Anything for you, Stan."

_I would really appreciate it if you didn't show your love for me so easily in public, Prince Kyle…_ Stan nearly gritted his teeth.

"Sorry, sorry," Kyle had already finished doing his work as Stan finished doing his, "So, right after school?"

"What if we have homework?"

"It would be so mean of the teachers to do that on _Valentine's Day…_" Kyle swished his tail, "Besides, can't you predict the future, Stan? Can't Ashera's or Yune's voice tell you if we have homework today?"

"Kyle, it isn't that simple," Stan held up one index finger, "I can't choose what I see in the future. I can really only hear oncoming dangers, or something specific that one of the goddesses tells me."

"Well, that's a shame. Can't you talk to them and ask them if we have homework tonight?"

"Kyle, give it a rest," Stan lightly slapped Kyle on the left cheek, "If we have homework, then we have homework, though I hope we do not. I think that the goddesses have better things to do than listen to complaints of a 16-year-old prince of Hatari. Besides, you're so smart, you'll get it done in no time."

"But what about you, Stan?" Kyle looked into Stan's eyes, trying to win him over (failing, of course).

"I'll be fine," Stan reassured.

"If you insist…"

~Last period, Mr. Wich's graphic arts class…~

"Okay, go to your computers!" Mr. Wich ordered his students.

"Hey, Valentine's Day is tomorrow," Wendy noted.

"I know," Bebe whispered to her, "Hey, I wonder if Stan is going to get something for you. Would you want that?"

"Not really," Wendy laid back in her chair, "I don't like him anymore. I stopped liking him in the 6th grade."

"But he's sooooo cute!!" Bebe squealed, "Next to Prince Kyle, he's got to be the second most popular boy in the whole school."

"That's true, but… I just… I just don't like him anymore."

"But do you at least think he's cute?"

"Yeah, I suppose. Kyle is pretty fine, too."

"Go for him, then."

"I can't. You know how many other girls are trying? Besides, he likes someone. He just won't tell anyone who it is."

"What about me?"

"What?!" The two girls looked behind them, seeing Stan right there.

"You were saying how cute I was, and how Kyle liked someone?"

"Well, yeah. There just has to be someone. And we already know for sure."

"What?! You know who it is?"

"No. And why do _you_ care?" Wendy eyed Stan curiously.

"He's my best friend," Stan giggled, "Of course I'd be concerned! It's not like I'm trying to… trying to get him to be… my boyfriend or anything!"

"Hmph, I knew that," Wendy nearly scoffed at Stan, "I was only testing you. But I can read right through you, even without your or Kyle's mind-reading powers. You _are_ in love with him. It's too damned obvious."

"Why the _hell_ does everyone think I'm in love with Kyle?!" Stan went into his "feral cat mode" for about the 10th time that day, "He's a friggin _guy_, and I don't like guys like that!"

"Girl's intuition, I guess," Bebe shrugged, going back to her computer work.

"We can read the minds of gay men, even without your powers," Wendy did what Bebe was doing.

"Girls sometimes…" Stan muttered, shaking his head in shame.

To everyone's surprise, that second, the bell rang.

"Hey!" the students went into an uproar.

"Sorry, class," Mr. Wich appeared clumsy at that moment, "I was so carried away that I lost track of time. Sorry."

Stan hurried his way out of the room, looking for Kyle right away.

_Kyle?_ Stan gripped tightly on his sending stone, _Kyle, where are you?_

"Right _here_, silly goose," Kyle had his sending stone in his left hand and grabbed one of Stan's cat ears.

"W-where the f*** did you come from?!" Stan jolted, baring his cute cat fangs.

"Shouldn't a goddess' voice tell you that?" Kyle grinned.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I can only predict certain things?"

"Sorry!" Kyle beat his wings to hover in midair before Stan could grab his bushy wolf tail, "Anyway, come on. Let's go. Or are your wings still too tired to fly?"

"I… yeah," Stan strained very hard to get to where Kyle was, "*pant* Hurry… Put me… on your back…"

"Okay, okay, already…" Kyle rolled his eyes, seizing Kyle so that the young apostle was on his back, "Is there anywhere else you want to stop by?"

"No. Just go to the mall," Stan gripped tightly onto Kyle as they flew.

"Okay…"

"Say, Kyle?"

"What?"

"Are you getting something for me for Valentine's Day?"

"Maybe… Why don't you read my mind to find that out?"

"But I'd much rather hear it straight from you."

"Ooh, so… Oh, never mind. It's been hard to hold myself back from trying to admit to your feelings for me, you know?"

"What _feelings_ might those be? Tell me, I implore, Prince Kyle of Hatari and Serenes. I'm in love with Wendy and you know it. End of story."

"If you so insist, Prince Stanley of about 75% of all of Tellius…"

"You're a douchebag, Kyle."

"I don't think _you're_ a douchebag, Apostle."

"THERE YOU GO AGAIN WITH CALLING ME APOSTLE!!!!"

"Sorry about that…" Kyle quickly apologized as he and Stan landed on the South Park Mall's grounds.

"All right, off to American Greetings!" Stan pointed towards the mall's front doors, which is where he and Kyle landed, "Come on, Kyle, I have lots of things to buy."

"Right on, Prince Stanley!" Kyle followed after the apostle, "What's with that look? You didn't say I couldn't call you 'Prince'."

"I suppose you can call me that," Stan said as he and Kyle were walking to the American Greetings store, "But try not to, okay?"

"Well, well," Kyle was rather surprised, "I'd have to say, you're atti- dammit!"

"That's right, Kyle," Stan laughed evilly, "You keep your nasty comments about me 'being in love with you' and crap to yourself, you hear?"

"Wow," Kyle looked to his left, "It looks like we're already here."

"So we are…" Stan spoke rather blankly as he and Kyle went in the American Greetings store, "First thing's first… I'm going to have cards that I pass out to all of my friends. Then I'll have a very special card for the one I love."

_Which is_ me, _of course,_ Kyle whispered in his head, putting his sending stone down on the floor.

_What was that, Kyle?!_

_Sorry, I just can't help myself. Forgive me, Prince Stanley._

"All right," Stan forgave Kyle, "Just pick up your sending stone before someone takes it and come on."

"Fine…" Kyle looked at Stan's inventory, "Hey, what's that you got there?"

"Um… just some bags of candy, some Valentine cards, and… uh…"

"And what? What's that box of chocolates you have there? Looks awfully fancy. You got all of that pretty fast."

"If you think it's for you, you are sadly mistaken. It's for Wendy, douchebag. And I got all of this in the back of the store."

"Let's just pay for all of our stuff already," Kyle said, "I have homework, and I really need to go home to do it. We can come back after we're done with all of our homework."

"Okay," Stan agreed, "I have a fair amount of homework as well, so yeah."

"That's a total of $50.00," the cashier told Stan as the amount showed up on the cash register.

"Dude, 50 blasted dollars?!?!" Kyle was in shock, "Do you have a job, Stan? There is no way that could be allowance money."

"But it is," Stan spoke without looking at Kyle, and paid the necessary $50.00, "I always save up for big things like this. Besides, my birthday party is coming up soon, and I'm bound to get a lot of money. Last year, I got about $500 dollars."

"$500?!" Kyle couldn't believe what Stan was telling him, "Who are you, Bill Gates' son?"

"No," Stan said as he and Kyle were exiting the mall, "Good guess, though."

"What the hell did you do with all of that?"

"Well… I used about $200 on manga books, donated about $150 to charity, another $100 to my college savings account, and I gave the remaining $50 to you. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah…" Kyle scratched his chin, "Well, in any case, I can't wait for Valentine's Day tomorrow. Can you?"

"I can't wait at all," Stan's heart rate instantly went up to far faster than normal, "I'm probably the most eager person in the world for Valentine's Day right now. You'll see."


	15. Coming Out

Chapter 15

"I know, I can definitely see why," Kyle tried his best to ignore Stan, even if the young apostle was mounted on his back, "Oh, I bet you can't _waaaaaaiiiiiiit_ to give what your sweet little box of chocolates to Wendy. I bet you're soooooo excited!"

"Kyle, calm down," Stan bit Kyle's left wolf ear, "I said I would accept your feelings, didn't I? Listen, I truly am sorry for not feeling the same way for you. So please, let it go. Waaaiiii!!!!"

Stan lost his balance as Kyle flew, falling off of him. He dove about 5 feet from him when he managed to catch his balance, flying back up with little effort.

"Hey, you can fly again," Kyle noted.

"Heh..." Stan sensed that Kyle was going to notice something he shouldn't, "So I can..."

"You... you were lying!" Kyle pointed a straight finger at Stan's nose, and the two stalled in midair, "You only asked me to fly you to the mall so you can ride on me. Riiiight? You weren't injured at all, were you, _Stan?_:

"I was... for a while," Stan admitted, "I guess... for the most part, what you are saying is true."

"So, you finally want to come out of the closet," Kyle grinned handsomely as he and Stan continued to fly, "You... Tell me the truth, Stan. I mean it. What... How do you feel about me?"

"I... I only love you as a friend. Totally platonic," Stan barely managed to say, "Nothing more, nothing less."

"Okay, then," Kyle allowed the rest of the situation to pass by, "Hey, were here at my house. Why? Shouldn't you be at your house already, Stan? Or are you lying when you said you only love me in a platonic way?"

"No, I mean it!" Stan hissed, "Fine! Whatever, I'm going home now!"

Stan sped off, leaving Kyle standing at the front step of his door.

"Hm... I honestly wish his emotions were not so mixed up," Kyle spoke as he rang the doorbell, "I just know he's lying. These emotions... He's not sure whether or not he's in love with me. I don't know for sure... but I have a strong gut feeling he doesn't know yet."

"Oh, hello, Kyle," Gerald had answered the door, "Where have you been?"

"Just at the mall with Stan, buying some Valentine's Day stuff," Kyle answered.

"That's fine," Gerald nodded as his son came in the door, "Even if you have a much longer life span that beorc like your mother and I, I don't want you going out to gentleman clubs and things like that. It's unhealthy, even for the prince of two legendary countries."

"Um, Dad?" Kyle asked.

"Yes, son?"

"Can we have a talk?"

"Oh, oh dear..." Gerald looked from side to side, feeling awkward, "It's not... about crushes, is it?"

"So?"

"It is, then?"

"...Yeah..."

"Then let's have a nice talk about it, son," Gerald motioned for Kyle to sit, "Hey, Sheila, come here!"

"What?" Sheila came from the kitchen, "What is it?"

"I think that our son really has become a man."

"Oh, I think I see where this is going," Sheila looked at the ceiling as she sat.

"So, what's the matter, son?" Gerald looked Kyle in the eye.

"Well, you see, there's this person at school I like, and she's a close friend of mine," Kyle began, "I told her that I liked her, and she said she'd accept my feelings. But ever since I told her, she looks like she doesn't know whether or not she likes me. What can I do about this?"

"Hmm..." Gerald pondered, "I think that it's exactly as you say - she doesn't know yet."

"Oh, don't listen to your father," Sheila batted her hand at her husband, "He's a guy. We women know so much more about love. She likes you. It's quite certain."

"Really?" Kyle spoke softly, "I knew he was in love with me..."

"_He?!_" Gerald nearly erupted, "You're in love... with another guy?!?!"

"Doh!" Kyle gasped, _Dammit, I knew I should have... Wait... If I did that, Stan might have heard me through his sending stone, and that would not be good. I'd much rather have my parents find out about this matter than him._

"Oh dear..." Sheila could not think of anything particular to say.

"Yeah, I am in love with a boy," Kyle admitted rather boldly, "So what? I can't help it - I am so deeply in love with him. I don't care if I'm the same gender as he is."

"Who?" Sheila went over to her son, gently taking his shoulders, "Who is the boy you're in love with, Kyle?"

"Do you really want to know, Mom?"

"Yes," Gerald stated firmly, "Please. We're your parents. How mad can we get?"

"It's... It's... It's Stan, okay? I'm really in love with Stan!" Kyle blurted out, "So there!"

"That's okay," Gerald nodded, "We are all humans. We Broflovskis accept people for who they are. Especially if it's our own son."

"I don't know what I should do..." Kyle almost cried, "I love him so much that I would happily throw my life away for him, but... It appears he only likes me as a friend. That bitch Wendy totally has him around her slutty little finger."

"Hey, now, don't talk like that!" Gerald got up and scolded."

"I... I'm sorry, I really am," Kyle ran up to his room, tears flying down the stairs, "But... But that's how I honestly feel. You just don't know how much I love Stan, Dad. Oh, and, uh... It would probably be best if you do not tell Stan's parents about this. There will be trouble, and I know it."

When Kyle was gone, Sheila said to her husband in a rather low tone, "Poor kid... It's clear that Stan is the most precious thing in the world to him right now."

Meanwhile, in Kyle's room, the wolf prince lay on his bed, lightly crying. "Why... Why?!" Kyle growled and stuck his fangs in his pillow, "I... Why, God, _why?!_ I almost don't want to go to school tomorrow. I'll get millions of chocolate from girls tomorrow. Even without Stan's gift of foresight, I can tell that. But... But while those annoying little wenches are giving me candy, Stan's giving chocolate to Wendy! This just got a lot worse..."

~The next day, at South Park High School, during the 45-minute lunch break...~

"Hey, Prince Kyle, did you see my chocolates in your locker?" Bebe jumped.

_Dammit, I knew it..._ Kyle averted the eyes of the mob of girls around him.

"Yeah!" Some of the other girls chanted.

"But wait!" A random girl signaled, "The rest of them are in the trash can right next to his locker!"

"No!!!!" The mob went over to said trash can, looking at the high pile of perfectly good chocolates in it.

"Um, if you girls don't mind..." Kyle barely made it through the sea of girls around him, "I have to get to my locker..."

"Aww..." A different random girl bawled, "I was going to throw out the chocolate in there and replace it with mine."

"Hey!" Another side character girl spoke up, "We've been all trying to catch Prince Kyle's attention by throwing out the chocolate in his locker and replacing it with our own so it could stand out!"

"Grr..." The rest of the girls growled and got into a mini mob fight.

_Damn..._ Kyle nervously thought as he opened his locker, _I'll never be able to understand women. Huh? What's this?_

"What is that in Prince Kyle's locker?" All the 157 girls spoke simultaneously.

_Hmm... this is a rather elaborated-upon chocolate box..._ Kyle examined the box, even finding a card on the back, _What's this? A card?_

Kyle quickly flew as high as he could in the air, out of the girl's reach. He bent his legs so they couldn't reach them, and opened the card to read it.

"Dear Prince Kyle," the card began.

_Why do all of my Valentine cards_ always _begin like this..._ A sweatdrop went down Kyle's tough neck.

"I see that you're invited to Stan's 17th birthday party tomorrow. I am too, believe it or not."

Kyle's ears stood erect in curiosity, _Hmm, now_ that's _interesting! They even know Stan. How precious._

"If you can, meet me in his room at about 8:00 p.m. that day. I'll be waiting there. And I swear to you, I'm a good friend of Stan's and I will not hurt you in any way. I just want to talk to you, Prince Kyle.

Sincerely,

Your Biggest Secret Admirer."

"I honestly wonder if I should trust this person..." Kyle wondered as he flew back down and stowed the luxurious-looking chocolate box and card in his bag, "I suppose I could just use my laguz powers on them if they end up being a serial killer or something."

Just as the bell to third period rang, Stan happened to be passing by.

"Oh, hello, Stan," Kyle spoke with a hint of mellow in his tone, "I see you don't have that chocolate box and card you were carrying around with you today. You gave it to Wendy _already?_"

"Yeah," Stan stated bluntly, with so much truth behind his voice, "And you? Any chocolates yet? Wait, why would I ask such a simple question? You must have had thousands, even in only the first two periods of the day."

"That's true," Kyle laughed, "but 99.99% of them were all in the garbage by the time I got to my locker. I only found one in my locker, and it had some kind of weird message in the card."

"Really?" Stan twitched his ears.

"Yeah... Apparently, this girl is also invited to your birthday party, and appears to have a huge crush on me. She wants me to meet in your room. I think she wants to seduce me or rape me or something like that."

"Nonsense!" Stan exclaimed as he and Kyle were already at Sr. Seymour Wiener's class, "Besides, even if that were the case, just use your powers on her."

"Good idea," Kyle nodded as Spanish class began, _Oh, I almost forgot! Look in your locker after school. I think you'll like what you'll see._

~Already after school...~

"Okay, so what is this thing you have talked to me about for the whole school day?" Stan was slightly annoyed as he opened his locker.

"Oh, you'll see soon enough..." Kyle spoke sweetly and innocently.

"Oh!" Stan was, indeed, surprised at what he had seen, "It's a Valentine's Day chocolate!"

_You can open it on the way home,_ Kyle said, _After all, I don't want everyone to know that I'm in love with you, Stan._

_Ah, good point,_ Stan said as he and Kyle jumped for the sky, _Why, if everyone knew, I wouldn't have Wendy anymore!_

About 1 minute into the air, Stan had the card opened. It read:

"Dear Stan,

Happy Valentine's Day, and Happy Birthday. Even after several years, I still am deeply in love with you as I was when we were 8 years old. Stan... you honestly don't know how precious you are to me. Let's be friends forever.

Love,

Your best friend Kyle"

"Why, thank you!" Stan glomped Kyle in midair, "You are truly-"

"Huh?" Kyle wondered aloud, "Truly what?"

"Nothing!!" Stan quickly put the chocolates and card in his handbag. He then put his hands tightly over his heart in fear that Kyle would hear its sonorous beating, _What was I going to say?_

"You and me both, dude..." Kyle raised an eyebrow as he and Stan continued through the sky, "And if you think I can't hear how fast your heart is racing, you're wrong. As the prince of wolves, I have better hearing than you think."

"Heh..." Stan laughed, unexpectedly transforming into his winged cat form, "Well, I've got homework to do, so bye!!"

Stan then flew as quickly as he could away from Kyle.

_And come to my party!_ Kyle heard Stan say to him, _You better be there, or else! Can you make it?_

_Anything for you, my sweet._

_Ugh! That's too mushy! Just come to the party._

_Okay._

~That Saturday...~

"All right!" Kyle was all dressed up and ready to go, "Mom, Dad, I'm going to Stan's birthday party now."

"Have fun!" Sheila waved, "But wait! Do you have a present for him?"

"I gave it to him before his birthday, about a month ago."

"Oh. Okay."

Kyle took wing upon the sky, and his flight took only 10 minutes. After these minutes have passed, he was right in front of the Marsh home.

"Hey, glad you could make it!" Stan was ecstatic at seeing his best friend, "Well, come in and have some food!"

"Thank you," Kyle tilted his head, _So, is that seductress here yet?_

_No, no signs of seducers or seductresses here yet, Kyle._

"So..." Kyle started as he and Stan sat down with some food, "How are things?"

"Good, good."

_Do you think... that Wendy could be the one who sent me the Valentine crap?_

_Possibly. I have no idea, man._

_It probably is. Or it could be Bebe - she seems like a more likely candidate._

_For all intents and purposes, it probably is her. No doubt about it._

It was already dark outside, rather dark, and Dance Dance Revolution was going on in the front room. Lots of people were gathered 'round, both young and old.

"Okay, I'll start," Kyle offered, "Put on the Shining Collection song, please."

The whole room gasped, then one girl said, "But Prince Kyle, that's the hardest Dance Dance Revolution song in existence! It's hard to do, even on the controllers. But you're going to do it on the platform?"

"Yes," Kyle got onto one of the DDR platforms, ready to dance in 10 seconds.

"Wheee!!!!" Kyle's fangirls squealed, "That's our Prince Kyle!"

The song only just begun, and already, Kyle was moving at impressive speed. Throughout the entire song, he got only one break, but ended up getting a score of "AAA" on the song.

"Wow!!" The fangirls wailed yet again, and the ones who were cheerleaders got into a routine, chanting, "Prince Kyle, Prince Kyle - he's our man! If he can't do it, nobody can! GO, PRINCE KYLE!!!!"

_Girls...._ Kyle thought, then looked at the time, _Crap! It's 8:00 p.m.! Stan, I'm going to go to your room._

_All right. See you there._

Kyle stepped up the Marshes' stairs, leaving everyone else partying like fat drunks. When he got to the room, he knocked on the door, but received no response.

"Okay, I'm coming in, then," Kyle announced, opening the door and letting himself in the room, "Stan? Bebe? Wendy? Anyone in here?"

"It is only I," an enigmatic voice sounded.

"Who... who is that?!" Kyle growled as his pointy fangs showed, "Present yourself, mysterious one!

"I am your secret admirer," the voice went on.

"But I have millions!" Kyle threw his arms in front of him to show emphasis, "What makes you think you're so great that you can call me out here?"

"Because I am the one..." the voice's source grew louder, "...that loves you more than those others."

"Please..." Kyle scoffed, looking away, "Everyone says that. Oh, and whoever you are? My heart belongs to someone else."

"Oh, really?" the voice grew curious, "Who is it?"

"I am not afraid to admit who it is," Kyle's ears flattened, and he became firmly defensive, "It's a guy, and one who's been my best friend forever."

"Oh, really..." the voice gradually grew angry, "Well, well, well, well... You're quite the faggot, aren't you?"

"Grr..." Kyle charged in the direction of this voice in winged wolf form, but only found a small girl's body.

"You're not getting away, Prince Kyle," The small body uttered, turning Kyle over.

_Dammit..._ Kyle thought, _She's strong for a woman! In fact, she's even strong for a man! I can't hold my wolven form for very long..._

Kyle transformed back into his humanoid form, and the small body was on top of him.

"Get off of me!" Kyle ordered.

"Never..." the girl continued to seduce Kyle as she had been doing. She crushed her lips against his, and from there things only got worse. Her tongue touched his Adam's apple and continue to run down his chest, when all of a sudden, Kyle took a held of her head.

"Stop this at once!!" he shouted, looking at the girl's eyes. They quickly turned from an auburn color to a sky blue one.

"Ugh..." a familiar voice uttered from the girl.

"What?!" Kyle held the head up to the moonlight, "You're no girl! You're... Stan?!?!"

"Oh my God!" Stan exclaimed when he regained his senses, "What... what happened?"

"You were seducing me..." Kyle replied.

"I'm so sorry, Kyle! I didn't mean to!" Stan looked down and pointed his ears in that same direction, "The spirits of both Ashera and Yune were inside me, so I was wondering why I was acting the way I did... I asked them to channel inside of me to make my voice sound like a woman's, but in the end, things got really bad... Kyle, I doubt that you will ever forgive me."

"Oh, quite the contrary," Kyle smiled, "You were really good at putting the moves on me. But why would you want the goddesses to do that? Just to change your voice? Wait... It can't be... were you the one who sent me the Valentine's Day chocolates and card?"

Stan nodded.

"Are you bullshitting me, Stan?" Kyle grew somewhat agitated, "You don't love me. It's quite obvious."

"I... I..." Sparkling tears poured from Stan's eyes, "I'm sorry, it's just-"

"Stan, the card said that you would not hurt me in any way!" Kyle thundered, "You promised! And now look at what you have done!"

"Kyle, I-"

"I'm going to ask you one more time, and one more time only," Kyle grabbed Stan by the shoulders, "How do you feel about me, Stan?"

"I... I don't..." Stan couldn't find a sufficient word choice, "Kyle, I really am sorry!"

Then, without warning, Stan threw himself on top of Kyle, letting their entangling breaths bring their mouths together. The apostle completely engulfed Kyle's mouth with his own, making sure that he tasted ever square millimeter of the other boy's lips.

_Stan... What are you doing?_ Kyle asked, barely managing to take Stan off of him, "What's going on? Why are you doing this?"

"Kyle..." Stan looked up, "For several years, I have loved Wendy Testaburger. Even throughout the course of this year, I have loved her. But... But when I am around her, I don't feel anything. Nothing at all. On the other hand... when I'm around you, my body feels uncontrollable, so hard to withstand. Kyle... I..."

"Stan? Are you okay?"

"Ask me again how I feel about you."

"Okay. Stan, tell me, how do you feel about me?"

"I love you, Kyle! With an impenetrable passion!!" Stan cried, embracing Kyle.

"So, you finally admit to it, then," Kyle grinned, taking off Stan's hat and petting his well-kept hair.

"I do," Stan continued to cry, "I... I was so unsure about my feelings at first, but now... After finding out that I felt giddy around nobody but you, I just knew it couldn't be anything but love. Kyle, I hope you're happy!"

"Oh, but I am. I couldn't be any happier."

"Nor I, Prince Kyle."

Fate had dictated that their lips mingled with each other once more. It seemed that they have made out for about 2 whole, straight minutes. This moment was indeed a distant, fantastical wonderland for the two, as there couldn't possibly be anything better. Kyle was ready to reach into Stan's pants when the young apostle stopped him.

"I think..." Stan was still trying to catch his breath as he put his hat back on, "I think... that we should go back now, Kyle."

"Good idea," Kyle got both himself and Stan up from the floor, "They might suspect that we've been up to no good. And, in a way, I guess we have."


	16. When Hearts Collide

Chapter 16

_Okay, Stan, just act like normal, so that no one gets suspicious of us,_ Kyle requested of his best friend.

_Whatever you say..._ Stan found it hard to listen, _Although I can't really hold it back..._

_Man..._ Kyle whistled as he and Stan sat down to watch people play DDR, _You know, since we're in love with each other, than makes you-_

_We're_ boyfriends, _now,_ Stan swished his tail and moved his ears playfully, as if he were a 3-week-old kitten.

_Hah! Now we can say we're not single anymore!_

_But if anyone asks-_

_Just admit it. If they're a homophobe, then that's their own problem._

_You're right, I suppose._

_You_ suppose?

_I don't know, though... Somehow, I can see why a lot of gay males find it hard to come out of the closet with who they are, and it's all because people can't accept it so easily. Beorc are so rude and misunderstanding, aren't they, Kyle?_

_They are. Creatures with extremely short life spans... though I suppose there are exceptions. Speaking of a "rude and misunderstanding beorc", where's Cartman? Did you not invite him to your party?_

_Of course not,_ Stan sipped some piña colada, _He's a total sack of lard._

_I agree wholeheartedly. Though I am somewhat scared that he'll use his fire magic on you when he sees you again. You know, those who have beast laguz blood, such as ourselves, are very vulnerable to fire, so we should be careful._

_But doesn't our heron blood protect us?_

_Me, maybe, since I'm half heron. But since only about 1/4000th of you is actually heron, then that merits some concern. _

_But I'm the apostle! Doesn't that count for something?_

_Even so, the fact that you are 75% cat laguz should tell you to stay away from Cartman's fire magic. It's dangerous, and I... I don't know what I would do if I lost you._

_Okay. Besides, I have the great prince of Serenes and Hatari to protect me!_ Stan slapped Kyle on the back as someone just got an "A" on the song Angelus by Hitomi Shimatani.

_Hey, I just realized something,_ Kyle's ears stood up, _You know how I can see into the past?_

_Yeah?_

_You saved me from being feral that one time, right?_

_It... it was tough to revert you, yes. The song... the song I used to free Yune from your body... I asked Mom about it later, and she said it was the galdr of release, a song that only an apostle of Altina can sing. And that would be me. So be damned lucky I pulled out the lyrics from the top of my head, dude! _

_I am, I am, I am indeed. If you didn't release Yune, then I wouldn't be here, now would I?_

_Crap!_

_What is it, Stan?_

_It's already 12:00 a.m. Mom says she wants the party done by then. And there are still a ton of people here._ Stan got up, shouting to everyone, "Sorry, people, but it's 12:00 and my mom says she wants the party to end at 12:00 a.m. So please, take your final food selections and leave now."

The whole crowd wailed in unison, as Stan had expected, even without either goddess' voice.

"I'm really sorry, but Mom and Dad will get me in trouble if something bad happens while they're gone, and I want to act responsible," Stan attempted to explain, "I know it sounds babyish, but... please. Have a good night!"

Even though they did so reluctantly, the gigantic crowd of teenagers complied and left the house. All, that is, except for Stan and Kyle.

"So, that takes care of things..." Kyle said.

"Yeah..." Stan plopped himself on the couch nearest him, "Beorc teenagers can be so... tiring."

"Well, you're part beorc," Kyle giggled, sitting right next to Kyle, "So, like you're the one to talk."

"S-Shut up!" Stan's tail was stick-straight, "Only about 10%, doofus!!"

"Tee-hee..." Kyle grabbed the young apostle by the cheeks, treating him somewhat like a child, "10% is 10% is 10%, silly. Calm down... Say, Stan?"

"Yes?" Stan set his tail back down.

"May I stay over here tonight?"

"If you're think about seducing me, stop it. My parents would get into a fury."

"But this is the opportune moment to do it! They're not even here."

"Please... Honestly, I'm not emotionally ready for that, or in any way, for that matter. Still, you can sleep in my bed, so long as you promise not to try anything too funky on me."

"Okay..." Kyle's ears stayed low as he and Stan made their way for Stan's room, "Sigh... And I had such a menu of things to do to you, too..."

"You had better empty that dirty mind of yours, Kyle!" Stan briefly morphed into a winged cat, gave Kyle a small scratch on the cheek, and became humanoid again, "Remember, you promised..."

"Okay, okay, sheesh!" Kyle reassured as he and Stan went in the room, "Your parents would know for sure, I know, I know, I know. Stupid beorc."

"I'm not a beorc!" Stan growled, "I'm Branded!"

"Whatever," Kyle took off his socks, shoes, and hat, laying down on Stan's bed, "Come over here, Stan!"

"Tch... okay," Stan doffed his own socks, shoes, and hat, laying right next to Kyle, "Hey! Get off me!"

"But you didn't say we couldn't snuggle, right?" Kyle looked at his boyfriend endearingly, swishing his bushy tail and twitching his ears.

"Oh, fine..." Stan consented.

"Yay!!" Kyle cheered, falling right asleep.

"Kyle, you awake?" Stan poked Kyle to establish a level of consciousness, "Man, you fall asleep as fast as I do."

This was so true.

_Wow, Kyle looks pretty sexy when he sleeps,_ Stan felt a red color come on his face, _Especially up close. Man, am I lucky to have a boyfriend like him... I wonder if I should..._

The Branded boy could not help but move himself close to the Jewish kid. Both boys were in a perfect position to do this, and Stan was so close to Kyle that he felt the wolf prince's toasty breath on his ears.

_Wow..._ Stan's face could redden no further, _Kyle... he's so... warm... Boy... I'm so close now that I can hear his heart as it beats slowly... I find this rather ironic, since my own heart is racing so fast..._

And Stan was not lying. While he felt Kyle breathing on him, the Jew boy's heartbeat was so faint and so slow that it seemed like he was about to die.

"Ugh..." Kyle rolled around a little, unexpectedly embracing Stan with both arms.

"Kyle!!" Stan scolded, _Great... Well, at least, I know that we can't lose each other tonight... Dammit, now my heart is beating even faster, thanks to this guy... So fast, that I think... I think..._

Stan couldn't have possibly helped himself when he looked at Kyle's comely sleeping face, raising his own just enough to touch his lips to those of the other boy.

_His lips taste as delicious and lukewarm as his breath..._ Stan thought as his mouth lingered on Kyle's for a rather long time. He closed his eyes, still feeling the ecstasy of how wonderful Kyle's lips tasted.

"Wha?" Kyle's consciousness came back, much to Stan's surprise, _Stan!! What are you-_

"Huh?" Stan opened his eyes again, "Kyle! Hah, so you're awake after all..."

"I was actually asleep the whole time you were kissing me," Kyle grinned, "But you know me. Being half heron, I can sense some things that you cannot."

"But...!" Stan attempted to explain, "I'm the Apostle of Begnion, the voice of Ashera and Yune! You... And you're not!!"

"Makes no damned difference," Kyle patted Stan on the head, putting his other hand over Stan's heart, "Well, maybe a little... Hey, are you okay? Your heart's about to explode... again."

"Well... I... um..." Stan tried to look for an answer, "Well, I can't help it if you embrace me and look so sexy when you sleep!"

"???" Kyle looked perplexed and content at the same time, "You really... do love me."

"Well, of course I do!" Stan forced himself and Kyle back down, "I love you, Kyle. Not only as a friend, but as a lover, also."

"If it's me embracing you that you want, Stan..." Kyle reached his arms out, "Then... Let me embrace you all night, and let your heartbeat race to unspeakable speeds."

"Yes..." Stan agreed, holding Kyle so close that he felt their hearts touch, "Enfolding like this all night, and always... That is how I want our love to be."


	17. The Wrath of the Wolf Prince

Chapter 17

Stan was the first one to wake up that next morning on Sunday, February 16, 2009, at 8:00 a.m.

"Yawn…" He stretched, extending his wings to the ceiling, _Kyle, wake up._

"*snore*… No, Mom, five more minutes, please… So… tired…" Kyle muttered.

_Is that how you're going to be, Prince Kyle?_ Stan smirked, becoming a winged cat in the blink of an eye, _Fine. Have it your way._

Stan then roared into Kyle's left wolf ear with all of his might, causing the 16-year-old Jew boy to spring wide-awake.

"Ow…" Kyle rubbed the ear Stan yelled in, "Stan, you could have damaged my hearing."

"Your fault for being such a lazy bum," Stan reverted to humanoid form.

"But it's the _weekend,_ Stan. Normally, I sleep until about 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning."

"Hmph," Stan looked away, "Well, I'll have you know I normally wake up at 7:30. Early bird catches the worm, you know. If you weren't here, I probably would have awakened at said time."

"You brat," Kyle yanked on Stan's cat ears, "Well, since we're awake, we can make breakfast together, if you want."

"Good idea," Stan nodded, "Should I go fly over to a farm somewhere and kill a pig for bacon?"

"No, no," Kyle shook his head, "Don't do that. It's someone else's property. Besides, as beastly as we are, we do not know how to cut bacon from a freshly killed pig."

"I was just joking, Kyle," Stan laughed, "Well, let's go."

The two boys wasted no time in heading for the kitchen, making it there before anyone could say "peanuts".

"All right!" Stan clasped his hands together, "What should we make for breakfast?"

"Lots and lots of bacon stuff, I think," Kyle stated rather bluntly, "I'm in a mood to eat a crapload of meat."

"Idiot!" Stan bit Kyle's ear playfully, "Try to consider what everyone else wants. We're not 'Bakin' Bacon with Macon' here."

"I wish we were…" Kyle nearly staggered backwards, "Eggs, then. But still, we must cook lots of meat."

"Fine," Stan began to put the bacon on the skillet and fry it, "As a proper host, I need to take what my guest wants to eat into consideration."

"Aww, how considerate of you," Kyle surprised his boyfriend with a hug from behind, "You're acting like you're my wife, Stan."

"Now, now, now!! I'm only doing what a proper host would do for his guest! We're not married, and I'm not sure if we'll ever be married!" Stan jumped back, causing the skillet to move and release some grease on him, "Ouch!"

"What happened?" Kyle came back to Stan's side.

"Some of the skillet's oil got on my hand…" Stan rubbed where the oil had hit him, which was in the middle of the brand on his right hand.

"Oh, shame…" Kyle smirked, taking the hand and licking the precise spot of the burn, "I'll make it all better, you'll see. Such a coincidence that it landed on your Branded mark…"

"Kyle! Get off!!" Stan barely managed to budge his hand due to Kyle's tight grip on it, "Mom and Dad are going to wake up any second! Kyle!!"

"Don't worry, they won't," Kyle's reassurance didn't seem to help Stan much, "And what do you mean, 'We'll never be married?' They allow gay marriage in Spain, don't they? We could go there and have ourselves a romantic, Spanish-themed wedding."

"That's true, but…" Stan spoke through all his fluster, simply adoring what Kyle was doing to him, but got a message from Ashera, "Crap! I just heard Ashera's voice!"

"And? You say it like it's a bad thing. What did she say?"

"That Mom and Dad are coming right now!!"

"Okay," Kyle got off Stan, putting his arms in the air, "Sorry about that."

"Hum de dum de dum…" Stan whistled as he flipped the bacon over on the skillet. Kyle put some ground coffee and water in the coffee maker to make coffee.

"Oh, how nice of you two boys to make breakfast for us!" Sharon clasped her hands together as she saw what her son and his best friend were doing, "Kyle, I think it's too much trouble for you. You're a guest, making breakfast. I find something a little wrong with that. I mean, I can see why Stan is doing it, since he needs to move his butt and do some chores, anyway."

"Mom, please…" Stan begged with his ears low, "Not while Kyle's here…"

"It's the least I could do, Mrs. Marsh," Kyle went over to the stove and flipped some over-hard eggs, "It's my thanks for letting Ike and I stay here often."

"Speaking of which, is Ike even here?" Stan spoke to Kyle aloud.

"No," Kyle answered, "He stayed at home." _I came over here because I wanted to sleep in your bed, remember, Stan?_

Recalling the event, Stan's face grew rosy in color, and he only said, _Uh… sure._

"Well, I have to hurry up and eat breakfast," Kyle grabbed some bread, putting an egg, mayonnaise, and 5 bacon strips between the bread slices, "I have a football game in 1 hour."

"1 hour?" Randy nearly choked on his coffee, "Against whom?"

"Nobody too tough," Kyle spoke through mouthfuls of food, "The North Park Pioneers, that's all."

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Randy didn't seem like he would calm down any time soon, "They're probably the third best high school football team in all of Colorado."

"Yes, but…" Kyle finally finished breakfast, grabbing his football jersey and shorts from the nearby couch, "They're nothing for me."

"Well, of course," Stan agreed, "You're probably the best on the whole Cows' varsity team. But with your new wings, I'm sure they've said that you can't fly. Even so, you have quite a lot of running power."

"That's true," Kyle shouted from the bathroom, hurriedly coming out of it, all ready to play football, "Well, if you guys want to go, you can. I'm going to fly there. Stan, you coming?"

"Of course!" Stan smiled and nodded, _After all, I love seeing my man play football…_

_Why, thanks for the compliment, Apostle!_ Kyle returned the grin, "Well, let's go, then."

Yanking on Stan's sleeve, Kyle ran out of the house with him, knowing that time was short. In midflight, Stan said, "Why do you insist on calling me 'Apostle'?"

"Well," Kyle tried to explain, "How could I not? You are the voice of two goddesses, and you have so many powers."

"But… If we're lovers, wouldn't it make sense that you call me by your first name?"

"I suppose that's true. Imagine me calling you 'Apostle' when we're married!"

"You mean _if._"

"But… But… Waaah!" Kyle gripped Stan with a titanic force, "You don't love me, Stan?"

"I do. Don't get me wrong; I really love you, Kyle. It's just… I don't know if our parents would be willing to spend 1,000 something dollars on us just to go to Spain. Then there would be the marriage costs – decorations, cake, paying the church, etc…"

"Screw that. We can just fly!"

"Kyle…" Stan stopped himself and Kyle in midair, close to South Park High School's football stadium, "I… I just don't know…"

"We'll try to do that," Kyle took his delicate boyfriend in his arms, "You and me… we'll stay together forever, just like we promised last night. You do promise to be by my side forever, right, Stan?"

"Yes…" Stan looked at the wondrous emeralds in Kyle's eyes, "I swear… I swear to always be with you, whether it be physically or spiritually."

"Always…" Kyle closed his eyes, drawing his face close to Stan's. But right when his lover's lips were 1 centimeter away from his, a voice over the football stadium's P.A. shouted, "All players to the football field! I repeat, all players to the football field! The game will begin in approximately 5 minutes!!"

"Dammit!" Kyle growled like a wolf, pulling away from Stan and heading over to the football stadium, "I hate it when things like that interrupt my time with you, Stan. Well, come on."

"I hate it too…" Stan whimpered as he followed Kyle to the nearby football stadium, landing in a front row seat.

"Kyle!" Coach Anita Phart reprimanded Kyle's tardiness, "There you are! We were about to start the game without you, and I was also about to make you run three laps around the football field. A minute later, and I would have done just that."

"Hehehe…" Kyle, with his helmet on, bowed, "I deeply apologize, ma'am."

"Well, you better be," Coach Phart went on, "Well, I didn't get you here to listen to my babying. It's time to play ball!"

Coach Phart flipped the coin in the air, which signified the start of the game. Kyle shouted some football jargon, and a player somewhere behind him kicked the ball, which was _really_ what began the game.

"Wow…" Stan spoke aloud with eyes sparkling at Kyle's every move, including just now, when the wolf prince made a touchdown, _Kyle, you're awesome!!_

_Thanks!_ Kyle, who had his chicken egg-sized sending stone in his pocket, beamed at the apostle.

Throughout the course of the game, Stan admired how Kyle ran, kicked the football, and such. He spent the whole game looking at him, complimenting the lupine prince with every touchdown. The game ended up being 42-30, which was the closest the South Park Cows have come in a while.

"Kyle, you were fantastic out there!" Stan managed to dodge Kyle's swarming fangirls after Kyle was in his normal clothes again, "There is nobody better at football than you! Honestly, you could make the best football player in the world jealous."

"Hey, hands off!" some of Kyle's fangirls yelled, "Only girls are allowed to talk to Prince Kyle that way!"

_Don't mind them,_ Kyle looked at Stan, _On the contrary, you're the_ only _one who can talk to me that way. These bitches don't realize that they're talking to my one and only boyfriend._

_Prince Kyle, you praise me way to highly,_ Stan teased, resisting the urge to poke his lover in the cheek, _You're right. These stupid girls have no idea… what we really are. Nor should they ever know._

_They're so stupid. God, I want to kill them so they can leave us alone._

"Man, Kyle, you were sooo amazing out there!" a familiar voice in hiding came out.

"Hey, is that-" Kyle pointed his ears in the direction of the voice.

"Wow, sure, Kyle is THE best friend in the world to have!" Cartman, who was the source of the voice, came out of hiding, "He's so good that you'll invite him to your birthday party instead of the great Eric Theodore Cartman!"

"Hey!" some girls growled at the fat kid, "Don't talk to Prince Kyle that way!"

_Hmph,_ Stan pouted, _At least they protect you from thugs like that fatass over there._

"I can talk about that damned Jew however I want!" Cartman pushed the girls surrounding him away, causing them to fall to the floor with some scrapes.

"C-Cartman!" Kyle growled, opening his mouth wide to intimidate Cartman with his mighty wolf fangs, "Get out of here! You're hurting people!!"

"Says _who?_" Cartman cocked his head, as if to annoy the wolf prince.

"Says _Apostle Stanley,_ that's who!" Kyle's wolf blood seemed more dominant that usual.

"Yeah!" Stan was now acting like his boyfriend, letting his cat blood take over, "Get out, or else!!"

"Tell you what," Kyle calmed down a little, closing his mouth, "How about... we fight right now, your magic versus my fangs and claws. If you win, you can go to my house, take all of the food you want, and have the pleasure of 'putting a taint on the Jews' name', just as you've always wanted."

_But Kyle!!_ Stan looked at the wolf prince with worry, _You can't… you can't put your family in danger like that!_

_Fret not,_ Kyle solaced, _If that's what he does, then I'll tear him to shreds either way._

_I hope you're right…_ Stan bit his fingernails, and Kyle was almost sickened by the chaos he sensed in his boyfriend's heart.

"Hmm, interesting!" Cartman scratched his chin out of curiosity, "I accept those as my stakes. But what are yours, Wolf Prince?"

"You leave Stan and I alone..." Kyle started, "...and you will not even think about being annoying again. You are not to hurt anyone else in the way you do. Not intentionally. And while this may seem irrelevant, get bariatric surgery, eat better, and exercise regularly."

By now, there was a whole crowd of both boys and girls. They gasped, thinking that Kyle was losing his mind.

"Gee, you think he's gonna accept?" Butters looked over at Kenny.

"Mff mpmppfpppfmp pmppppppffpp. Mfffmpfmm mmmpppffmppfpppmppfmm mfmmmmppmmpp!" Kenny exclaimed.

"I find those hard to accept," Cartman, who was sitting down for the whole talk, got up, "But with what terms I have, plus the fact that you can't win against my finely tuned magic skills, I won't have to worry!"

"Then it's on!!" Kyle declared as the crowd cheered. "Okay, I guess I can be the judge of the fight," Craig stepped forward to volunteer, "There's only one rule in this game: fight dirty and hard as you want. If either of you die or get injured enough to where you cannot fight, you lose. Deal?"

"Oh, it's a deal, all right!" Kyle smirked, taking no time in transforming into a winged wolf.

"You'd better be prepared," Cartman held his fire tome in front of him, "because the tome I used on Stan was only an Arcfire tome. The one I am holding today... It is the legendary Rexflame tome."

Again, the whole crowd gasped in amazement.

"Dude, Rexflame?" Token, a black boy, sounded like he was about to lose his marbles, "I've heard of that crap, man. It's the king of all fire spells. It's supposed to create a sea of lava to fell its enemies."

"Kyle doesn't stand a chance," Clyde shook his head, "Not a damned chance in _hell,_ man."

"But Prince Kyle is the prince of wolves!" Bebe poked Clyde very painfully, "He'll tear that fat boy to shreds with fang and claw!"

"Yeah!!" the rest of Kyle's fangirls shook their fists at the boys, who for the most part were cheering for Cartman.

_Kyle, don't do this…_ Stan closed his eyes, predicting doom, _Ashera and Yune both tell me that the results will hurt you dearly…_

_Like I said, don't worry,_ Kyle said, _If I can protect you from harm, then that is all I really care about._

"On my count..." Craig announced as Kyle arched his back, ready to pounce on Cartman, "1 for the money... two for the show... three to- Aw, screw it, just go already!!"

Kyle then utilized his sturdy hip muscles, using them to leap at Cartman. The fat boy jumped out of the way, firing a small fireball at Kyle, which the lupine prince took rather well.

"Amazing, Prince Kyle!" Cartman laughed, "Simply amazing! You're even stronger than the apostle!"

"I _protect_ the apostle," Kyle responded, barking at Cartman, "I am also more accustomed to fighting than he is."

"Well, let's just see how the rest of the fight goes!" Cartman snickered evilly, "Remember what I get when I win!"

"You mean _if_ you win, you bastard!!" Kyle roared as he aimed for Cartman's left arm, which held the Rexflame tome. His fangs, which were about the length of an average adult male's middle finger, dug all the way, and Cartman was now bleeding severely.

"Ouch!" Cartman winced at the twinge, "You... You aren't a wolf prince for nothing, you damned Jew!"

"Heh, I know," Kyle managed to smile, even with his 3 1/2 inch fangs in Cartman's arm.

"But you are not getting away that easily, Kyle!!" Cartman shook the winged wolf off with a fireball.

"Damn, that really burnt me..." Kyle put a paw to where the rotund fire mage had aimed the fireball, "You're not half bad as a mage, Cartman!"

"And you're not half bad as a laguz fighter, Kyle!" Cartman reciprocated the compliment, "But this will end now!"

"Oh, hell yeah, it will!" Kyle charged for Cartman again, slashing him across the chest with his claws, which were nearly as long and strong as his fangs.

"Ugh..." Cartman instantly fell to the ground, in a pool of his own blood.

"That attack took a lot out of me..." Kyle fell where he stood, becoming humanoid again.

"Kyle!" Stan managed to catch Kyle right before he landed, "Are you okay? Shall I use Sacrifice on you?"

"No..." Kyle groaned, "I'll be fine. Besides, it will put your well-being in danger if you use Sacrifice now, since I have so many gaping wounds. I'll just go to the emergency room and get healed by normal means there."

"Oh, I'm just glad you're safe," Stan hugged his best friend.

"I guess..." Kyle returned the hug, "...that I am, too. If I'm gone, then who's to protect you, Apostle?"

"Aww, how sweet!" the guys cooed and whistled at seeing this touching reunion scene.

"Gaaaaag!!" Kyle's fangirls wished that they were Stan right now.

"Don't challenge Cartman to a duel anymore, Kyle," Stan helped Kyle get up, "Now, come. I'll fly you to Hell's Pass Hospital."

"That sounds good," Kyle agreed, but wiggled his ears in Cartman's direction, "What's that?"

"It sounds..." Stan did the same with his ears, "...like a burning flame... like a sea of lava... Oh, no! It's Cartman's Rexflame attack! Kyle, no!!!!"

Surely enough, an enormous wave of semi-liquid, 10,000 degrees Celsius lava was heading Kyle's way. Kyle dilated his pupils, unable to move out of the way, until Stan blocked the lava, and it hit him instead.

"No!" Kyle shouted as both Stan and Cartman fell to the ground, extremely close to death, "Apostle Stanley!!"

"My goodness..." Stan barely managed to open his eyes, looking at Kyle above him, "I'm so glad... that you're okay..."

"Don't waste your energy talking to me," Kyle requested, then pointed at Bebe, "Bebe, call 9-1-1. Tell them that we have two 17-year-old males. One has minor lacerations everywhere and the other has a major 3rd-degree burn all over his abdominals."

"I will!" Bebe rushed to the nearest phone, calling 9-1-1 as she was told.

"Is... Are you okay, K-Kyle?" Stan was only half-conscious now.

"Please..." Kyle took Stan's right hand, clutching on to it in desperation, and cried tears like waterfalls, _Please, Apostle, hold on for just a while longer... The ambulance is going to be here soon, so they can heal you, and we can be together forever..._

_No..._ Stan shook his head, _I think... I think I'm... going to join Izanami... soon..._

Stan quickly lost consciousness after that. With the sole exceptions of an extremely faint breath and a heartbeat that only Kyle could hear, Stan was dead.

"No!!!!" Kyle howled as his wolf blood wanted him to, _You… you promised me… this afternoon… that you would never leave me! We would get married in Spain, have a happy life… Why, why would you lie?!_

"Kyle!" Bebe ran to Kyle.

"What is it, Bebe?" Kyle attempted to wipe his tears away, and let go of Stan's frozen, pale hand.

"EMTs are already here! Hey, our victims are over here!" Bebe beckoned for the medical professionals to come over.

"Stan, the EMTs are already here. So, please... wake up... Don't die on me..."


	18. The Most Horrifying Past

Chapter 18

"Doctor!" An EMT barged in Hell's Pass Hospital with Stan on the bed with wheels, with several others helping him, "This one's in critical condition! He's suffering a severe burn, has several lacerations, and he's going into shock!"

"Okay!" A doctor showed up, gesturing towards the O.R., "He'll need immediate surgery! Are there any more victims?"

"Yes, but the other one only suffers a few minor incisions and lacerations."

"Then all he'll need are a few sutures. Take him to the emergency room."

"Yes, sir!"

Following the ambulances the whole trip, Kyle landed right where the EMTs took his most cherished person.

"Stan! NO!!!!" Kyle ran in the building, "What… what is happening?!"

"Calm down, young man," An EMT stopped him from going inside the O.R., "The boy is going into surgery."

"Will he be all right, Doctor?" Kyle now began to cry, not caring how unmanly he looked.

"I'm not sure. Are you related to this patient? If I may, who are you?"

"Me? I'm… I'm his boyfriend. He's the most precious thing in the world to me," Kyle was on the ground, nearly bowing to the EMT, "So please… you have to save him…"

"_Boyfriend?_" The EMT scoffed, "Please, don't joke around like that. You're both guys."

"You have a damned problem with that?" Kyle easily bared his fangs, intimidating the EMT, "Guy or not, I have a right to love who I want, as does everyone else in this universe."

"Riiiight… Sorry about that, then…" The EMT was scared out of his mind of how feral Kyle looked, backing away and going into the O.R.

"Damn right you're sorry…" Kyle closed his mouth, still angry. He then walked towards the O.R., looking inside. All he really saw were a bunch of surgeons and nurses scrambling about. He did, however, manage to catch a glimpse of Stan's ears, wings, and tail, but nothing else.

_Stan…_ Kyle wondered if mind-speech would work at this time, _Can you hear me?_

There was no response.

_Stan, please… You have to stay alive… I swear to you that I will kill myself if you die._

Just then, however, a spirit appeared before him, which looked familiar.

_Hello, Kyle._ The spirit smiled.

_Yune?_ Kyle looked around, but nobody seemed to react to Yune's presence, _I thought that only Apostle Stanley could hear your voice…_

_Be that as it may,_ Yune explained, _In times of crisis, one of the heron tribe can speak to me, but only if something bad were to happen to the current apostle._

_So, you're here. But why?_

_I spoke with Apostle Stanley, and he says that he will do his best to live, no matter what. He'll keep his promise to you, I'm sure of it._

_Oh, thank goodness…_

_Watch out! The one who injured the apostle is here. I must go. Excuse me._

_Huh? Cartman?_ Kyle got up, looking in the direction of the O.R. Surely enough, Cartman was there, alive and well, as if nothing had happened to him.

"Cartman, you prick…" Kyle growled hostilely, "What have you done to him?!"

"I was aiming the attack at you, you damned Jew," Cartman replied, not seeming to be frightened by Kyle's long and sharp fangs, "He blocked it, and that was that."

"You lie!" Kyle grabbed Cartman's shirt, "You did that on purpose, didn't you? Didn't you?!"

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't," Cartman smiled evilly.

"I swear," Kyle deeply furrowed his eyebrows, "If Stan dies, before I take my own life, I will rip you to shreds. Literally. I'll make sure that you are in molecular pieces, and I'll feed you to the crows. Hope they don't get food poisoning, though. In fact, I want to do that to you right now."

"Heh, woooo!" Cartman shouted, "How very harsh, Prince Kyle! That just shows how confident _you_ are in Stan's recovery!"

"Shut up!" Kyle opened his mouth so wide that all of his razor-sharp teeth were showing.

"I would put Cartman down if I were you," Cartman eyed Kyle, somewhat scared, "We're in a hospital, not a wrestling stadium, you know."

"Damn…" Kyle barked quietly, putting Cartman on the ground, "You better get out of my sight right now before I dig my fangs in your back and tear you cleanly in half."

"Man, you really have sand in your vagina, don't you…" Cartman grew somewhat worried, sprinting out of the hospital.

"Good riddance…" Kyle was still fuming from what Cartman just did, "If he comes back, he won't live to see another minute."

The wolf prince's anger escalated. He felt like he was about to transform into a winged wolf and start killing people.

"Dammit!" Kyle howled into the air, temporarily leaving the hospital building and into the parking lot, "Why him?!?!"

Kyle was only out there for a small while when he saw Stan's parents in their mini-van.

"Mr. and Mrs. Marsh!" Kyle acknowledged their presence, "You're finally here!"

"Is Stan all right?" Sharon was already crying the second she got out of the car.

"I don't know," Kyle looked to the floor in shame, "I… the nurses in the O.R. won't tell me."

"That's okay," Randy comforted Kyle, "It's not your fault. We'll go inside to check on him. You can wait in our car, if you like."

"Thank you," Kyle bowed.

"Here are the car keys," Randy tossed the keys to Kyle, "Make sure no robbers come or anything, okay? If they do… Well, you can just make them wish they have never been born."

"Okay, I will," Kyle nodded as he entered the car. It was rather clean, save for a few small books on the ground.

_I wonder if I should be doing this…_ Kyle wondered in his head, _Maybe there's something good on the- Huh? What's this?_

A fancy, beautiful book on the car's floor caught Kyle's eye. He picked it up, opened it, and read some pages.

_Dear Diary…_ Kyle read, noticing that the books format automatically made it a diary, _Crap! I shouldn't be reading someone's diary! How rude of me!_

Kyle unknowingly stowed the book in his bag, rushing back near the O.R. in the hospital. Strangely enough, when he did so, a nurse walked out of it.

"Well, how is he?" Kyle asked, "Is the surgery over?"

"Yes, we just finished it," the nurse answered.

"And? Is he going to be okay?" Kyle held his hands over his heart, barely managing to control it.

"The road to recovery is a long one, but… Yes, he'll be fine."

"Oh, thank God…" Sharon buried her face in her husband's shoulder, "My Stanley's going to be okay…"

"However, the burn was rather severe," the nurse took her clipboard, appearing to read something off of it, "It took a long time to repair it. He'll probably need about… two weeks straight here to fully recover from the burn and the rest of his wounds. Oh, here comes a nurse with him right now…"

The O.R.'s doors opened, and Stan was on the wheeled bed, sleeping.

"Stan!" Kyle worried, _Stan, are you there?_

_Ugh… Yeah…_ Stan, even in mind-speech, was very weak.

_Thank goodness…_ Kyle buried his face in his hands and cried.

"You may follow us and stay with him," the nurse informed, "But don't stay too long, for he needs his rest."

"Okay," Kyle nodded as he and Stan's parents followed the young apostle all the way to his hospital room. The nurses finally set him on the bed inside this room, and permitted the three guests to come inside.

"Stan?" Sharon walked up to her son, holding his hand, "Are you awake?"

"Hm…?" Stan's eyes flickered open, "Mom? Dad?"

"Stan!" Kyle almost pushed Stan's parents out of the way, "Thank the Lord you're okay…"

"How are you feeling?" Randy asked.

"Better…"

"Well, it's good to know you're all right," Sharon shed a few tears, "We'll leave you alone so you can rest. Are you coming, Kyle?"

"No…" Kyle shook his head, "I'll stay here with the apostle."

"Suit yourself…" Sharon shrugged as she and her husband left the two lovers alone.

"Hey, dude," Kyle sat in a wheeled chair, holding onto Stan's hand, "You okay?"

"Yeah…" Stan smiled, looking at Kyle straight in the eye.

"Don't worry me like that. You… I was about to kill myself when I find out that you may not survive."

"Oh, I wouldn't die. Knowing that I have a boyfriend who would be sad over my death, I knew I had to live."

"Well, that's good to hear," Kyle nodded, taking the mysterious book from earlier from his bag.

"Hey, what do you have there, Kyle?" Stan cocked his head in curiosity.

"I… I'm sorry!" Kyle put the book back in his bag, "I know it's your diary! I shouldn't have looked!"

"It's not _my_ diary…" Stan sat up, "It's way too girly to be it."

"Strange…" Kyle took the book back out, flipping to the end, "Could it be your mother's, then?"

"I don't know," Stan responded, "What does it say?"

"It says," Kyle began to read aloud, " 'Dear Diary, I had just become the mother of a monster.'"

"No way…" Stan gaped, putting his hands over his mouth, "Is that… Izanami's?"

"It seems to be," Kyle acknowledged.

"My God…" Stan blinked, "Keep reading."

"Why would… your birth mother say you're a monster?"

"Keep reading, Kyle. I… I really want to know more about my biological mother."

"Very well."

As Kyle continued to read, Stan could only tremble in the mere thought of what his mother had experienced.


	19. To Cure Boredom

**_~!WARNING WARNING WARNING!~ MATURE CONTENT ALERT FOR THIS CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO ON AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_**

Chapter 19

" ' Dear Diary,

I have abandoned my son and husband. No matter how hard I try, the two keep on following me. I even managed to transport myself to planet Earth. Yet the two still follow me. Why?

Lehran, my ancestor, has stayed behind on the continent of Tellius. No matter how much I have begged him, he refuses to go to Earth. Why does he hate Earth so?

It is weird to know that all herons descend from Lehran. He is nothing like the average heron I have seen, and certainly not like the heron royal family with wings I've seen. He's also far more pleasant. I can't believe the herons would murder my grandmother from so many centuries ago.

I just hope that my son doesn't mingle with anyone of the heron tribe. Especially that ancient, young-looking Prince Kyle of Hatari. Gosh, he disgusts me. He puts a shame on all the apostles. Who would've thought that Queen Nailah of Hatari and Prince Rafiel of Serenes would create such a child? What were they thinking? WHY ON EARTH AM I DESCENDED FROM HIS YOUNGER BROTHER?!?! At least he died shortly after his wife, Apostle Micaiah, gave birth.

I only hope that the world will get better.

-Apostle Izanami,

100th Empress of Begnion' "

"No… no way…" Stan almost wanted to go back into shock after hearing Kyle read more from his mother's diary, "You mean… you're from Apostle Micaiah's generation?"

"If what your mother is saying is right…" Kyle put the diary back in his bag, "Apparently…"

"Lehran…" Stan stared into space, "Who the hell was he? W-wait! Read me the last three lines of that entry!"

"Okay, okay…" Once again, Kyle took the book back out, " 'WHY ON EARTH AM I DESCENDED FROM HIS YOUNGER BROTHER?!?! At least he died shortly after his wife, Apostle Micaiah, gave birth. I only hope that the world will get better.'"

"If my birth mother is descended from your, then that means…" Stan pondered, "that _you're_ my ancestor as well!"

"We're… related?" Kyle fell back in his chair, looking rather lifeless, "Things just got a lot worse... And I'm _old?_ Heh, imagine the looks on those girls' faces if they heard that…"

"Well, I kind of expected it," Stan said, "Since we both have heron blood, we ought to share _some_ lineage…"

"God, this is just so sudden…" Kyle couldn't calm down, "Talk about incest, man…"

"Calm yourself, Kyle," Stan patted his left wing on Kyle's shoulder, "We probably share only, what, 1000th of the same blood? That's a lot of distance in our family trees."

"But… but even so, I-"

Kyle's thought process was suddenly stopped by a knock at the door.

"Dammit, it's probably a nurse," Kyle got up from the chair, with Izanami's diary still in his hand, "Well, I'll excuse myself now, Prince Stanley. Goodbye. Get lots of rest."

Kyle flew over to his sweet boyfriend, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"Bye," Stan waved to Kyle as the wolf prince left the room, "Stay safe."

But right when Kyle opened the door, it was not for a nurse. Much to his surprise, it ended up being Stan's parents.

"Oh," Kyle shook his hand in the air, "Back so soon, Mr. and Mrs. Marsh?"

"Heeeeeyyyy…" Randy eyed Kyle's right hand warily, "What do you have there, Kyle?"

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Marsh," Kyle presented the Stan's mother's diary to Randy, "I found this in your car, and-"

"Don't do that again," Randy nearly swiped the old book from Kyle's hands.

"Anyway, why are you here?" Kyle hastily changed the subject.

"We were just going to check on Stan to see if he is okay," Sharon responded, "Is he?"

"Oh, yes," Kyle nodded.

"Good."

"Um, if I may…" a nurse walked by, "I'm very sorry, you three, but this patient needs his rest now. No more visitors for another 5 hours."

"Okay…" Kyle's ears stiffened. He and his best friend's parents were already out of Hell's Pass Hospital.

_It seems to me that Mr. and Mrs. Marsh really didn't want for anyone to read Izanami's diary…_ Kyle thought, _Hmm… Right before that one football game… Yes, I remember! They were scared of Stan finding "it"! It all makes sense now…_

~Meanwhile, in Stan's room, with nobody but Stan in it…~

"Why… why would Izanami hate Kyle so much?" Stan wondered as he looked up at the ceiling, "I can't… we're all human, aren't we? She hates him… why on Earth? Why… uh…"

Stan's mind was frail, as was the rest of his body. As a result, he flew into a rage, constantly asking himself, "What did Kyle do to _you_, Mother? Uh…"

Unfortunately for him, after going into this fit for 10 minutes, Stan went dead silent. Not just his consciousness level, but his heart stopped beating, he no longer breathed, and was as good as dead. In addition, his surgical sutures tore right open.

~With Kyle, Randy, and Sharon…~

"All right, I'll see you," Kyle waved as Randy and Sharon left in their mini-van.

"Don't push yourself too hard!" Randy waved back and drove towards home.

"Man, what a day…" Kyle stretched his wings, ready to take flight, but felt a chilling wind stop him, "Damn, it suddenly got cold…"

_It's not cold,_ a frequent voice sounded.

_Huh? Oh, Yune, it's you,_ Kyle beamed at the goddess who appeared before him, _Good day, my goddess. How do you fare?_

_Not so good…_ Yune frowned, looking at the ground and shaking her head.

_Why? Did something happen to Stan again?_

_I'm afraid so. You see, his reaction after you read him the diary… Well, let's just say that the result was not nice._

_What?! How is he right now?_

_Terrible… He is in cardiac arrest as we speak, and he is going to die in 10 minutes if you don't hurry up._

_Thank you, Yune! I'm going to see the apostle right away!_

_Don't mention it._ Yune's spirit disappeared.

_Stan… Stan… Why?_ Kyle ignored all of the nurses' pleas for him to stop running in the hospital, _Why? You said so yourself – it's not that much of a blood relation between us…_

When Kyle finally entered Stan's hospital room, 5 minutes have passes since he spoke to Yune last. That meant he only had another 5 minutes to do something before the young Begnion apostle left him for good.

"Stan!" Kyle immediately went up to his boyfriend, pressing his wolf ear close to Stan's heart to check for a pulse. When he found that there was none, and that the electrocardiogram displayed only a straight line and a steady "beeeeeeeep", Kyle nearly went into a panic.

"Stan… not again… how many times are you going to do this…?" Kyle quickly put on the waterworks.

"Kyle, don't give up!" Yune came back.

"But it's all over…" Kyle looked up at the goddess of chaos, "All of the medical staff is on lunch break, and there is nobody else to help him…"

"Come on!" Yune tried to encourage Kyle more, "Keep trying! If you _really_ loved the apostle, you wouldn't give up so easily, now would you?"

"*hic*… No…" Kyle wiped his eyes.

"Then keep trying!" Yune propelled.

"Okay…" Kyle got up, walking over to Stan, "You're right, Goddess Yune. I can't give up. Not yet."

Knowing that there was only 1 minute in counting, Kyle though faster than a cheetah could run. He squeezed Stan so tenaciously that he wondered if Stan would awaken to feeling Kyle's heart alone. Then, focusing all of his power on his quickly moribund boyfriend, he brushed Stan's velvety hair out of his face, giving the young apostle the most lustful kiss he had ever done.

"Stan…" Kyle hurried, with only 30 seconds left to speak, "I know that may not have been the wisest of things to do, but what else can I do as you slowly pass away in my arms? You leave me a second time… God is going to take you in 20 seconds, and what can I do but- What?"

About 15 seconds until he was going to die, Stan's warm air blew on Kyle's neck. His color returned, and the EKG showed a close-to-normal pulse and blood pressure. But Kyle didn't need that to know that Stan was going to live, as the apostle's heartbeat slowly but surely came to his ears.

"Stan?" Kyle let Stan go, still holding on to the other boy's shoulders, "Stan, are you alive? Stan?"

"Ugh…" Stan groaned, blinking several times before keeping his eyes open, "Kyle, is that you?"

"Stan? Oh, thank goodness…" Kyle embraced Stan with an unbreakable force, "Just as you were about to die…"

"I was about… to die?" Stan now stood up, as if nothing had happened to him.

"Well, you're all right now," Kyle cried tears of joy, "And that's what matters. Well, I better leave before the nurses catch me. I'll visit you again tonight."

"Okay," Stan nodded, going back to bed, "Bye."

As soon as Kyle was out of the hospital, Yune came back and told him, _See, I knew you could do it! Flesh-bound creatures like you can do anything if you really try._

_Well, I had a little motivation from the goddess of chaos and freedom,_ Kyle expressed happiness, _Thank you, Yune._

_But without your will to succeed, I doubt you would have saved the one you loved most from unavoidable death._

_Well…_ Kyle felt slightly embarrassed, _That's true…_

_You going to see him tonight?_

_Of course. _

_Well, I have to go. I can only talk to you if Apostle Stanley is in danger. Since he is no longer, I cannot do that. Until we meet again,_ Yune disappeared in an instant.

"I wonder…" Kyle put his finger to his mouth, "…what Stan is doing tonight?"

~That night, at about 9:00 p.m…~

"Wow, Mr. Marsh!" the nurse opened his eyes, flabbergasted, "You recover rather fast! Did anything happen?"

"No, not really," Stan knew he couldn't bring up the subject of Kyle's "healing powers".

"Well, in any case," the nurse now turned to Stan's parents, "your son will only need to spend another night here, and he will be perfectly okay!"

"Oh, how fortunate!" Sharon barely managed to stop herself from crying.

"We'll go now," Randy excused himself and his wife.

"I'll leave you alone," the nurse smiled as he made way for the door.

"Why, do I need to rest now?" Stan asked politely.

"Not particularly," the nurse answered, "I just thought you might want some time to yourself now, since you've been doing so much better."

"Thank you for being so considerate," was Stan's sincere reply.

"You're welcome," the nurse nodded as he left the room.

Stan reached for his sending stone on the table, gripping on to it snugly.

_Kyle, can you come over here?_ Stan requested.

_Why? Are you doing better now?_

_Quite. Come over here, please? You know my thing about long hospital stays. The terrible food… the multitude of hours I have to spend in bed… It's way too much._

_Fine… I'll be right there. Just hold on, all right?_

_Okay._ Stan put the sending stone back down on the nearby table.

"Hey, Mom? Dad?" Kyle went into his kitchen.

"Yes?" Sheila recognized her son's presence.

"I'm going to go to the hospital to see Stan."

"Why? Is he in bad condition?"

"Oh, quite the contrary," Kyle quietly laughed, "He's doing so good that he'll be released just in time for school tomorrow morning."

"Go ahead by yourself if you want, then," Gerald consented.

"Thank you," Kyle left his house, spread his wings out, and flew for Hell's Pass Hospital. He soared above the small of South Park, which looked absolutely striking at night, unlike from the time when Kyle was only eight years old. Hell's Pass Hospital was rather far away from his own home, but it stood out so clearly in the dark.

Kyle entered the hospital, asking the receptionist, "Is Stanley Marsh at room 123 available for visiting?"

"Why, yes he is!" the receptionist gestured towards the upstairs rooms, "He's available for visiting all night, so feel free to stay until he leaves tomorrow morning, if you want."

"Thank you very much," Kyle bowed, began his journey to Stan's hospital room, and thought, _"Available all night", she says…_

It took about three minutes for Kyle to reach said room. Strangely enough, it was slightly ajar, so he just let himself in.

"Hello, Stan," Kyle closed the door behind him, "You rang?"

"Why, yes," Stan moved his hand for Kyle to come close, "Yes, I did."

Kyle's lips lightly brushed against Stan's. After releasing himself from the brief kiss, Kyle said, "So… why did you call me?"

"I'm bored out of my mind here!" Stan wailed, getting up out of bed, "Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to come back? Kyle…"

"Stan, I'm sorry, my love," Kyle put his arms around his frail, weak boyfriend.

"Kyle, you don't know how much I love you..." Stan took the wolf prince into his arms, tiptoeing just enough to meet his lips with that of the other teenage boy. The kiss bore a luscious relish that even Kyle didn't think was possible. Stan held him so close that he could feel Kyle's heart beating at an amazing speed against his own rapid pulse.

"Apostle..." Kyle gazed into Stan's striking, deep sky blue eyes, "You didn't… really call me over _just_ to cure your boredom, did you?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Stan was anxious

"Don't play dumb," Kyle arched his eyebrows. Much to the Stan's surprise, the wolf prince seized him over to his bed, looking at the fine beauty underneath him.

"Kyle?" Stan's rather light complexion now bore a tinge of pink as he wondered what Kyle was about to do to him. Due to the fact that he was totally love-struck, Stan's ability to hear the voice of the goddesses was temporarily nullified.

"If you really love me, then... let me do you," Kyle put his lips to Stan's delicate neck as his warm breath gently exuded on it.

"B-but Kyle!" Stan could not be any more embarrassed, "I'm still.. I'm still a virgin! I don't think I'm ready for this yet..."

"Well, you ain't the only one..." Kyle gave an almost sad reply, "Besides, there's a first time for everything, right?"

"But... I thought you did it with Bebe!"

"That isn't the point, is it? I never did it with anyone," Kyle touched his hand to Stan's gorgeous skin, "You really… called me over so I could have sex with you, didn't you?"

"I… well, maybe…" Stan could not bear to look his lover in the eye.

"Then…" Kyle's tongue was already on Stan's stomach, "I'll give you a really good time tonight."

Kyle now put his lips on Stan's flaming member. At the mere sensation of such comforting euphoria on him, Stan quivered. Despite the fact that he was scared out of his mind for being touched for the first time, Stan let Kyle take him to a far away place. But when he felt like he could take no more, the apostle wanted the lupine prince to stop.

"Kyle, stop, please..." Stan pleaded, "I... I think I'm..."

Stan needed not to finish his sentence as the heat filling Kyle's mouth finished it for him.

"Oh dear..." Stan blushed, "I'm so sorry, Kyle!"

"Don't be, my sweet one..." Kyle swallowed about 99.99% of the apostle's liquid pearls, stroking Stan's plush hair, "I'm about to do something you'll like even more. So please, don't cry."

"You'll kill me!" Stan interjected, "There will be no more apostles..."

"But if you're with me," Kyle said, "you won't have children anyway."

"K-Kyle... I can't do this!" Stan hollered.

The 16-year-old Branded boy did not have anything else to say, however, as Kyle turned out the lights and removed his clothing. A completely comely, disrobed entity could now show, and the ashen moonlight gave it the most stunning mien the world has ever experienced.

"Oh, Kyle..." Stan could only stare in awe.

Kyle then quickly began to doff all of Stan's garments.

"Kyle!" Stan nearly screamed when Kyle removed his coat.

"It's okay, just relax…" Kyle comforted, leaving the young apostle of Ashera with no other words and a sleek, effeminate body.

"Kyle..." Stan could not possibly lock eyes with his sex god, "Do I... Do you think I look silly now?"

"Of course not, Apostle," Kyle smiled, "Right now, you are a true jewel of the world, one that is far more radiant than the purest diamond."

And before Stan knew it, he could already feel that rippling pain going through him, the feeling that was Kyle's love. Nothing that Wendy every gave could ever merit comparison with Kyle's beauteousness, especially now. Not that he ever did it with her, or anyone else for that matter.

"Oh, Kyle, I love you ever so much..." was all that managed to escape Stan's poor, convulsing lips. All he could do now was stare at Kyle and wrap his arms around his ungodly built shoulders. The wolf prince's long yellow-orange hair was so sleek that Stan ran his fingers through it without encountering a single tangle. Kyle's bright verdant eyes coruscated as emeralds, although even Stan himself knew that they were so much more than that.

"I love you more than even my own life, more than anyone has ever loved before..." Kyle spoke in a whisper as both he and Stan could sense that they were both reaching their limits, "How alluring you feel inside, Stan. Oh, yes... I feel like I gonna go crazy for you..."

After a multitude of thrusts, Kyle slumped on top of his new lover to signify that he had climaxed. When he did, sweat beads gently streamed down his neck and on to Stan's equally moist chest. It did not take very long for Stan to reach the apex of their experience as well. The apostle came long and hard, the silky white liquid shimmering in a way that made gold jealous in the moonlight.

"Hah..." Kyle panted, but not as fast as Stan did, "Are you all right, Apostle?"

"How would I not be," Stan replied after Kyle had left him, "after experiencing the most glorious thing in the world with the man I love? I would rather die than lose my virginity to someone other than you, Prince Kyle."

"Yes... Now that you are mine, Apostle Stanley, absolutely nothing, not even that wench Wendy, can come between us now..."

"That was a rather good first time, it was," Stan smiled as he embraced Kyle's head, "I don't think I would have wanted to do it with anyone but you…"

With the most scintillating beauty right underneath him, Kyle could hear every rapid, dulcet beat of Stan's heart. And now, that resonant music was his and his alone to hear.


	20. A Mysterious Letter

~!MATURE LANGUAGE/NUDITY WARNING!~

Chapter 20

"Hey, I heard you're going to be released tomorrow," Kyle had his official lover encircled within his magnificent arms, "Is that true?"

"Yes," Stan slightly moved his head, "The nurse told me that I can leave this dull place tomorrow morning, just in time for school."

"And that doesn't sadden you? The longer you stayed here, the longer 'vacation' you would have from school…"

"On the contrary, it makes me happy to get out of here. It's monotonous, staying in this hospital. Besides, I'd much rather be with you, Kyle."

"Well, I can still be with you, can't I?" Kyle's grip on Stan's slender body grew more sincere and secure.

"That's true, but… Hey! Stop trying to jump around the subject! Good night!"

"Oh, Apostle…" Kyle shook his head with a smile on his face, "You can be… rather odd sometimes."

~The next morning~

"Hmm…" Stan awoke earlier than his masculine boyfriend, "Man, does time fly when you're having fun… Kyle, wake up. The sun is already out."

"Yeah…?" Kyle sustained a minor headache as Stan lightly slapped him awake, "Oh, s***! What time is it?"

"7:30 a.m., it seems," replied Stan, "No! The nurses are going to be here any minute! Get your clothes back on, Kyle!"

"Of course, of course," Kyle put a hand over Stan's mouth, preventing the young apostle from speaking any further. Stan could barely look at him as he put his clothes back on, struggling to poke his black and white wings through his coat.

"Man, you took it pretty well last night for your first time," Kyle couldn't help but giggle.

"Shut up, you!" Stan turned around to face Kyle with a flushed face, "How else would you expect a virgin to- Whoa!"

Perhaps coincidentally, the first thing Stan saw when he turned his head was Kyle's delightfully nude body. The wolf prince had yet to put even underwear on, and his sturdy manhood hung like a girl's high ponytail.

"Put some clothes on!" Stan hissed, gritting his fangs and tossing Kyle's pants to him.

"Calm down, already…" Kyle grabbed his boxers and pants, "You're acting like a girl who had just done it for the first time. Sheesh."

"You think that's because I _was_ a virgin before 10:00 last night?" Stan's tail hair stood on end as he put his hat on, "It's just… I was so stunned at seeing you entirely undressed that I feel… embarrassed…"

"Well, when we get married," Kyle now began to put on his gloves, "you'll be getting a lot of it. So get used to it while you can."

"Grr…" Stan pouted as he waited for Kyle to fully dress, "Your mind is so twisted, Wolf Prince."

"Well, stop bitching," Kyle was already ready to go, "We have to go to school, or else Principal Balls will have a thing or two to say."

Kyle found it hard to resist the urge to take hold of Stan's girly hand as they walked to the reception desk near the front of the hospital. But knowing that their relationship should be kept latent, he somehow managed to do so.

"Hello," the receptionist greeted the two teenage boys with a friendly, warm smile, "Oh, you're Stanley Marsh from room 123?"

"Yes," Stan nodded to confirm the information.

"You may leave at once, if you wish," the nurse pointed her hands towards the hospital's exit doors.

"Thank you, ma'am," Kyle tilted his head slightly out of politeness, "Let's go, Stan."

"Um… yeah…" Stan's mind went virtually blank as he beat his wings to soar into the air with Kyle.

"Stan, I told you, don't worry about it," Kyle attempted to reassure the griping apostle.

"But… but…" Stan looked in the completely opposite direction, "If Cartman finds out that we did something we shouldn't have been doing last night, he'll tell everyone. Then we'd be totally screwed. And I didn't even hear either goddess' voice for that."

"Yeah, I know," Kyle's face contorted slightly, "I knew that too."

Before long, the two already landed at school, with class about to start in 5 minutes.

"Prince Kyyyyyyylllllllleeeeee!!!!" the usual group of girls swarmed around Kyle in an instant.

"Oh, jeez…" Kyle rolled his eyes, trying his best to go past the mob, but to no avail.

"Hey, hey," one girl from the crowd piped up, "Why are you with Stan? Why, Kyle?"

"Is it really any of your business?" Kyle could barely keep his fangs hidden.

"Were you… doing it with him?" another fangirl spoke.

"No, nothing like that," Kyle said with a straight face, "You know me, I only like girls."

"Aww…" a group of about 20 yaoi fangirls complained in shame.

_Kyle, why'd you have to lie?_ Stan whimpered as he and his hot boyfriend walked to Ms. Choksondik's classroom, _We're destined to be together._

_I know, I know,_ Kyle patted Stan on the head as Stan pointed his ears upwards, _But you want to keep our relationship a secret, don't you?_

_Well, yeah, but… I'd almost rather tell everyone about it rather than constantly having to lie._

_Stan… As long as we love each other in secret, that's all that matters,_ Kyle spoke firmly as he and Stan walked in the classroom, _With our enduring love, who really gives a hoot with having to lie, if it's so true?_

_You know, you're right!_ Stan exclaimed as he and Kyle sat down. His worry dissipated in the blink of an eye, _Aww, I love you, Kyle, with all my heart._

_I know,_ Kyle poked Stan's super-smooth cheek playfully, _I bet I love you more._

"Ppfmfp, mfmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmfmmfmmfmmfmmfmmfm…" Kenny nearly hurled from the desk next to Stan.

"Kenny!" Stan's cat ear fur bristled, "You… you don't have mind-reading powers like Kyle and I, do you?"

"Mfpmpppmfpmf mffmpf mff pmppppppffpp, mpmfmfmpmmpp," Kenny shrugged, "Ffmppffmf fmpfppppf fmmmppmppppmmppmpm pmfmffpmpmpp ffmppffmf fppmpppffmpp... ffmppffmf pmppppppffpp, pmfppffpmmpppfffmm."

"We are not!" Kyle barked once to warn Kenny to stop talking.

"Ppfpmpmmmffm, ppfpmpmmmffm," The orange-coated boy finally gave in, "Mpfppfpffmfmmppfmp mff fmmmmmmffmpm fmpmfpmmmfmp. Fmmmfpmppmppfmmmfp."

"You'll do well to forget it, too," Stan slapped Kenny as hard as he could with his tail, which was not too painful, at least not very.

"Okay, class," Ms. Choksondik turned on the overhead to start that class period, "You are going to work in groups again. So, get into groups of three and work on pgs. 257-258, #58-66 ALL."

_She does put us in groups a lot , doesn't she?_ Stan said to Kyle.

"Mff pmppppppffpp," Kenny agreed, "Mfffmpfmm pfpfmfmfffmpmpp fmmmffppmmffpmfmmmpff fmpppf fmpmfpmpp fppmmmffm ppmpff mmpppfmmp pmpmppmpppfmfmm ppfppp fmmmmmffmmffpppmfm 'fmffmmmpp ffmppffmfpff fppppfpffpmp mfmpmfppffpmmppfmm' ppmppfpffmpp fmpmfpmmmppp mfpmmmpmfmpf fmpmfpmpp fmpmffppmmpp."

"Okay, that's it," Stan stopped in the middle of the imaginary numbers problem he was working on, "It's quite clear to me that somehow, you got the ability to read minds."

"Fppmfpmmmfmp fmpmfpmpp mfpmpppmfpmf mmmpffmpp ffmppffmf fmpmmmpmfpmpmffpppmfm mmmmmpppffmffmp?" Kenny cocked his head in confusion.

"Let's test that ability again, shall we?" Kyle offered, turning to Stan, _Hey, you know that Kenny's mom is a total slut, Stan?_

_Tee-hee… I know. Last night, I saw her sleeping with five different guys,_ Stan snickered, _And one of them was __**not**__ Kenny's dad._

"Mfpmppffm!" Kenny gave Stan a spink on his right cat ear, "Mpmppfppp'fmp fmpmmmpmfpmp mmmmmpppffmffmp ppmffm ppmppfppm fmpmfpmmmfmp fppmmmffm!"

_Okay, it's official,_ Stan noted to Kyle, then turned back to Kenny, _Kenny, you are hereby dubbed as a mind-reader, just like Kyle and I._

_Weird..._ Kenny scratched his chin.

_Well, since you are one of our best friends, Kenny,_ Stan reached in his handbag, _and since you can read minds just as well as Kyle and I, I'd like you to have this sending stone._

_What does it do?_ Kenny took the handsome stone in his hand, carefully inspecting every nook and cranny.

_It allows us three friends to telepathically communicate over vast distances,_ Kyle explained.

_Sweet…_ Kenny hummed, putting the stone away in his pocket. About thirty minutes later, he said, _Well, since we can use mind-speech with each other, we can say things that Cartman doesn't have to hear! Cool, huh? _

_Yeah!_ Stan was ecstatic, _You know, since you put it that way, you're so right!_

"Hey, are you gaywads up to something?" Cartman growled from his group with Butters and Tweek.

"Oh, no," Kyle giggled, holding three fingers to his mouth.

"We weren't saying a damned thing…" Stan could barely contain his laughter.

"Ffmmppmmmmfp!" Kenny nearly scowled at the fat boy, but couldn't really since his hood covered so much of his face.

"Whatever," Cartman turned back around, "I just know you dickholes are up to something. And when I find out what it is, you're sooooo going to get it."

_Tch,_ Kenny gritted his teeth, _Who put the bug up_ his _butt? _

_I agree with you, Kenny,_ Stan noted, _Even Eric Theodore "Fatass" Cartman isn't usually this cranky._

But just before the boys were going to get in a totally heated mind-speech fest, the bell to go to second period shop class rang.

_Hmm… What a shame,_ Kenny wailed as he, along with the rest of the class, gathered their things, _I was fun trying out mind-speech for the first time._

_Well, Kenny,_ Kyle patted the poor (both monetarily and emotionally) kid on the back, _you'll have plenty of opportunities to try it out. So don't try to rush anything, okay? I need to go to my locker. Bye!_

With that, Kyle was off, away from sight. But Stan and Kenny both didn't need to go to anywhere but Mr. Bob's class.

_So, have you been doing well, Stan?_ Kenny asked.

_Yeah,_ Stan nodded.

_What's been going on with Kyle? He likes you, yes?_

_Yeah…_

_Come to think of it… What was happening this morning? You weren't… I mean… That is, are you..._

_Goodness, Kenny, what is it? Out with it already._

_Are you and Kyle going out?_

_Huh? Well, um, you see… Yeah._

_Aww, cute!! I wish I had a lover. So, how far have you gotten with him?_

_Do you really want to know the answer to that question?_

_Yeah!_

_Well, it's like… Um…_

_Holy friggin crap! You… you two… you totally banged last night, didn't you?_

Stan was steaming as he and Kenny walked in Mr. Bob's classroom, _Yeah. We did._

_Luuuuuucky! I'm still a virgin, too. So, what did "Prince Kyle" feel like? Moreover, what does sex feel like?_

_Terrific… a true spectacle of beauty. Especially with Kyle. Man, when he entered me and thrust hard so many times, I thought I was going to be ripped apart. Sex hurts but feels so euphoric at the same time. The whole experience had my heart hammering like crazy, dude._

_You're making me so jealous, Stan!_ Kenny lightly tapped the young apostle on the back, _It's cute how you're the catcher, too._

_Crap, I think Kyle is coming,_ Stan's cat ears went erect.

_Don't talk like that,_ Kenny wiggled a finger, _Especially since you just got through telling me what a good time you had with him last night._

_Not_ that _kind of coming, you idiot!_ Stan punched Kenny lightly.

"Hey, what's going on over here?" Kyle waved and smiled as he entered the classroom.

"Nothing much…!" Stan hesitated.

"Suspicious, suspicious, suspicious," Kyle shook his head while smiling.

"Well, in any case," Stan attempted to change the subject, "I can't wait to get home from school!"

~After school, that night, at Kenny's house~

"So, Kenny," Carol McCormick, Kenny's nearly drunken mother, spoke at the dinner table, "What happened at school today? Anything cool?"

"Ffmppffmf fppppffmfpmfmpmppp'fmp mmpmpppmfmffmppfpmmpp ppmmpp mffmpf Mff fmpppfpmfmpm ffmppffmf..." Kenny replied.

"Of course we'd believe you, son," Stuart McCormick, Kenny's smoking and drinking father, took a gulp of his beer can after he spoke, "What could possibly go wrong?"

"Ppfpmpmmmffm... mfpmpppffmpp mfffmp mfmppfmppfmm," Kenny took a deep breath, "Ppmppfppm, Mpmmmmmpm, fmpppfmpmmmmffm, Mff mfpmmmfpmmpp mfmmmmmffpppmppmpm fmpmfpmpp mmmmmpmffpmfmfffmpffm fmpppf pffmppmmmmpm ppmmffpppmpmfmm."

At that moment, Carol nearly choked on her food, Stuart spat out his beer, and Kenny's older brother Kevin simply gaped.

"Kenny, don't be silly…" Carol appeared to be very anxious, "You can't read minds. That's crazy talk."

"Mpfmffpppmpp, Mff'pmfpmf pfmpffppffpmmpp mfffmp fmpppf ffmppffmf," Kenny challenged, "Mmmpppmpm ffmppffmf fmmmmmmffmpm ffmppffmf mmpmpppmfmffmppfpmmppmpm ppmmpp."

"Fine…" Stuart shook his head, saying in his head, _I wonder what was on the hot lunch menu at South Park High School today._

"Mmfppffmfpppfmppffffm-mpfpffmffmppmpm fmmfmpmppmmmpmp fppmfffmpmfp ppmmmmfmmmfpmppmpm pfmppffmpmmmfmpppfmppfmm mmmpppmpm mfmpffmmmfpmffm," Kenny began, "Pfmmpppfffmmppfpppmmmpmfpmfffm, Mff mfmppffmp mmm mpfpfffmfmfffmp mmfppfmmfpmpfmpmmmmffpmf mmmfmm mmm fmmmffmpmmpp mmmpppmpm mmm fmmppmmmmpmfpmf mmpppffmpfmppmfmpp ppfmpf ppfpffmmmpppmfmmpp Mfmmmmfmpppfpffmmmmpmmpp fmpppf mpmpffmffppppmp."

"Impossible…" Stuart couldn't believe what his son had just told him.

"What?" Kevin was suddenly curious in the situation, "What did you ask him, Dad?"

"What was on his school's lunch menu today was all," Stuart slumped in his chair, "He answered what it was, all right."

"Stuart, may I have a word with you?" Carol yanked on her husband's shirt and took him to the side.

"What do you want, Carol?" Stuart whispered.

"You know the incident with Stan's powers awakening, and the realization that he is one of the Branded?"

"Yeah."

"The same thing is happening to Kenny. I just know it."

"It seems you're right, Carol."

"But we shouldn't tell him yet! He shouldn't find out about who he really is until he has come of age."

"I agree entirely," Stuart began to return to the kitchen.

"Fppmfpffm, fppmfpmmmfmp mfpmmmpfmpfmmpppppmppmpm?" Kenny wanted to know.

"None of your beeswax," Stuart began to treat his son like he was 2 years old, "Hurry up, finish dinner, and go to bed."

"Mpfmffpppmpp…" Kenny barely agreed, slowly sauntering to his room.

~The next day, right before 1st period…~

"Oh, hello, Kenny!" Kyle waved when he saw his friend, "What's the matter? You look somewhat distraught."

_It's just that…_ Kenny began in mind-speech, _I told my family about my ability to peer into the heart, and, well, they pretty much went amok._

_How so?_

_Well, my mom took my dad into a different room and said something about my powers being similar to Stan's. In fact, they really related this situation to when Stan became the next apostle._

_I see,_ Kyle nodded to show that he was listening, then said aloud, "Speaking of which, where is he?"

"Mff mpmppfppp'fmp pmppppppffpp," Kenny shrugged, "Mfpmpp mpmmffmpmppp'fmp fmmmfpppffpp fmfpfm fmpppf mmfpmfmmmfmmfmm."

"Maybe he's late," Kyle suggested, then pointed at Cartman's desk, "Hey! The fatass isn't here!"

"Fmmfppmppmppfmp..." Kenny clenched a fist as a sign of victory.

"Okay, class," Ms. Choksondik spoke in her usual way, "I'll take roll call now."

_Hmm?_ Kyle pricked up his right wolf ear, laying his left one flat, _It's rather unusual of her to call roll first, isn't it, Kenny?_

_Uh-huh. Normally, she'd go straight to math problems or something first._

"So, the only ones not here today are Mr. Marsh and Mr. Cartman?" Ms. Choksondik announced.

"Yes, ma'am," Kyle answered from the class.

Just when they least expected it, there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Kyle offered.

"Why, Mr. Broflovski," Ms. Choksondik was rather touched, "How gentlemanly of you."

"May I help you, miss?" Kyle opened the door to a sophomore girl.

"Um, yes," the girl was instantly love-struck by Kyle's good looks, "Mr. Kyle Broflovski, I have a letter for you."

"Thank you very much," Kyle nodded as the girl ran off with glee."

"What happened?" Ms. Choksondik asked when Kyle closed the door, "What did the girl want?"

"She gave a letter to me," Kyle responded. On his way back to his seat, he held the letter in his hands.

_What does that letter say?_ Kenny inquired.

_I don't know… There's no name or anything on it. _

_It could be a threat letter._

_Maybe. I'll open it and see._

Kyle then took the eraser end of his pencil, sliding it under the letter's envelope to remove the letter. He began to read:

_To Mr. Kyle Broflovski:_

_You want to know why Stan is absent today? He wanted to see you. So I captured him, and now you have to come rescue him if you want him to live. Meet me at Stark's Pond as soon as you get the chance. I'll be waiting._

_Oh, and as for Cartman's absence… Don't worry. That is completely irrelevant._

_-A mysterious terrorist_

_Holy shit, dude!_ Kenny covered his mouth to prevent a sound from coming out, _I knew it! What are you going to do?_

_Why, go straight to Stark's Pond, of course!_ Kyle already got up, _Sorry, Kenny, but I'm going to have to ask you to stay here._

_Fine… I'll be waiting. Hurry up and save Stan from that damned terrorist._

"Mr. Broflovski, where are you going?" Ms. Choksondik was astounded at Kyle's sudden urge to leave her classroom.

"Ma'am, forgive me," Kyle bowed even more deeply than he normally did, "There's pressing matters concerning the letter I just received, and they have to be attended to right away!"

Then, without another word, Kyle was already off.

_Oh, Kyle…_ Kenny touched his hand to the pocket which contained his sending stone, _Please, please be all right…_


	21. Captivity

Chapter 21

_No…_ Kyle continued to run as fast as his brawny legs would allow, gripping onto his sending stone along the way, _I can't… This can't… Stan! Can you hear me? It's Kyle…_

No answer.

_Stan, I'm on my way to save you,_ Kyle was already in the sky, and halfway to Stark's Pond, _So please, hold on…_

Even without getting a reply, Kyle continued his way until he landed at Stark's Pond, the place that held so many of his memories as a child.

_Stan?_ Kyle attempted to contact Stan through the sending stone again, _I'm here… just tell me where you are…_

"Using that decrepit old stone will do you no good, Prince Kyle," a detestable voice came out of hiding.

"Grr…" Kyle growled with his fangs bared, "Show yourself at once, terrorist!"

"I am no ordinary terrorist, you see," the voice's source began to come out of the forest right near Stark's Pond, "For I am… your most hated enemy."

"Cartman?!" Kyle's surprise reaction was not good, "So, _you're_ the one who captured Stan! Where is he?"

"I don't know," Cartman's endeavor at sounding innocent was horrendous.

"Don't give me that bullcrap, you bastard!" Kyle snarled fiercely, "I know you know, so come out with it already!"

"Hmph," Cartman bit his lower lip, "Fine. Since you've been such a good little pup, I'll tell you. You see, he's right… here."

With that, Cartman recited some foreign language from memory, holding his right arm to his side. During the whole process, a terrible fire brewed, mixing with the threatening wind that just so happened to come about. Surprisingly, however, instead of a huge fireball resulting from this, it was an enormous block of ice. Inside, there was Stan, totally unconscious. There was some strange aura around him, concentrating right over his heart.

"S-Stan!" Kyle's face totally twisted at seeing his boyfriend in such a horrible state, "Oh my God! Cartman! What have you done to him?"

"Calm yourself, boy, and I'll tell you an interesting story," was Cartman's response, "As you know, Stan is the apostle of Begnion, and the only apostle able to hear the voice of both the goddess Yune and the goddess Ashera. The apostles were always pure of heart. But Stan… his heart is even more chaste than those of previous apostles. As such, it serves as perfect fuel for my magic power!"

"You've gotta be friggin joking me…" Kyle nearly fell over from hearing Cartman spout his crazy talk, "You just want it to gain more might?"

"My, my, my!" Cartman cackled, "Aren't you the sharp one! Nothing less to expect from the powerful and awesome Wolf Prince. Yes, you are 100% correct. And now…"

Cartman walked over to where Stan was, reaching into the ice block for the aura.

"I will use it… to kill you!!!!"

"But Cartman!" Kyle shouted, "If you take his heart away, he'll be nothing but a heartless shell!"

"Right," Cartman already had Stan's heart in his hand, "and that's the exact point!"

"Cartman, no!!" Kyle put forth so much effort in stopping Cartman, but it was far too late. The fat fire mage already began to channel the Begnion prince's heart into his body, becoming even more ferocious than before.

"What the hell have you done?!" Kyle was appalled at Cartman's new looks and strength.

"Ha!" Even Cartman's voice was more intimidating than ever before, and he generated a flame sword from more fire, "You're so screwed now! I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll so, so, so, so kill you!!"

"Can it, peabrain," Kyle didn't waste any time in changing into his winged wolf form, "You think that just because you have Stan's power that you can defeat me?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Cartman spoke very candidly, "I nearly killed that asshole, even without his power. But now that I have it, I'll kill you for sure! Hyaaaaah!!!!"

Cartman suddenly and mightily attacked Kyle, pointing his fire sword right at him. The lupine prince, knowing that it would be best if the sword did not touch him, flew out of the way, rather than catching the sword between his fangs. He soared into the air, just hovering above Cartman's head.

"What's the matter, Prince Hatari?" Cartman called from below, "Are you too chicken to face my fire magic?"

"No," Kyle angrily replied, "I'm using strategy, which is a thing you sadly lack."

"Some strategy, then!" Cartman hurled a barrage of fireballs at Kyle, missing so many times.

In the meantime, Stan was absolutely inert in his little ice container, with the sole exception of actually being alive. There were only the powers of Sacrifice, mind-reading, fighting in animal form, and the voice of the goddesses that Cartman did not take away from him. Even with all of this, Stan was currently unable to awaken and see what was going on with Kyle and Cartman.

_Hey, Stan…_ Yune's voice entered Stan's head.

_Goddess Yune?_ Stan acknowledged her presence.

_Yes._

_What… What kind of state am I in?_

_The corpulent one is fighting with the man you love… and the results do not look good._

_Are you sure you can't tell me more?_

_Yes, unfortunately. The reason you can't wake up is that Cartman stole most of your powers, and now he is fighting with Kyle._

_No! Let me do something!_

_Apostle, I'm sorry, I cannot! With only four powers at your disposal, what can you do? You can't even move right now!_

With Kyle and Cartman, both we bloodied up very badly, and Kyle was already back in humanoid form.

"Dammit…" Kyle held on to his bleeding arm, "I can't… hold on… much… longer…"

"Nor can I," Cartman admitted, "However, I'll see to it that you perish forever!"

Cartman, once again, charged at the wolf prince, still in humanoid form. But just as the sword was right before his heart, Kyle managed to gather enough energy, becoming a wolf again, and grabbing onto Cartman's pudgy arm, ripping it clean off.

"Urgh!" Cartman grumbled, falling hard on the earth.

"That…" Kyle reverted forms, "…is as far as I can go. Stan, forgive me…"

Right when Kyle fell on the ground, Stan's heart left Cartman's dying body, returning right to him. Stan's eyes became animate again, as did the rest of him, and his power came back. He broke free of the ice block he was in, looking for Kyle the second he did.

"Kyle?" the apostle called out, "Kyle? Where are you?"

"Unh…" a voice sounded from somewhere.

"Kyle?" Stan quivered, "Is… is that you?"

Stan rushed in the direction where he heard the voice. In doing so, he ran straight into Kyle, who was covered in his own blood and impaled in the heart.

"Oh, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!" Stan's heart nearly stopped, "What… what happened?"

"I'm so sorry, Apostle…" Kyle spoke with a dying breath, "Cartman, he… We fought, and… his fire sword pierced… my heart."

"Kyle, you can't die!!" Stan's tears overflowed like waterfalls, putting both hands over Kyle's heart, "I'll… I'll…"

But just as the blue light generated from his hands, Kyle stopped Stan from healing his fatal heart wound.

"Sorry, Apostle Stanley, but you mustn't…" Kyle requested, "I am near death, literally an inch away. If you used Sacrifice now, you would certainly… die."

"I don't care!" Stan's cry pierced the air, "If it means saving your life, I would gladly sacrifice mine!"

"But… I want you… to live on…" Kyle smiled, slowly shutting his eyes.

"What's the point in living on without you?!" Stan barely managed to make sense through all his tears, "I'd rather die than let your life drain away… Kyle?"

Stan put his hand on his boyfriend's forehead, noticing that it was colder than the Arctic.

"Kyle, this isn't even funny…" Stan laughed sadly, checking for pulse and breathing, "Kyle, don't… don't do this to me… I know you're alive, I just know it…"

But even 10 minutes later, Kyle had absolutely no pulse, and he was paler than a vampire.

"Kyle, no!!" Stan stooped over his boyfriend, crying harder than he originally was, "You're not dead! I refuse to believe it!! No, Kyle… you promised me that you would live! We would get married… what now?!?!"

After Kyle still didn't respond or move in any way, Stan got up, grabbed Cartman's fire sword from his dead, disembodied left arm, and held it to his heart.

"Sorry, Kyle, but I mean what I say," Stan spoke to Kyle's body, "If you're to die, you're taking me to heaven with you."

Just at the tip of the sword almost made its way to Stan's heart, however, the apostle got a sudden message from Kenny.

_Stan, hold!_

_K-Kenny?!_ Stan was so shocked at Kenny's sudden presence that he put down Cartman's sword, _I though I told you to stay in class…_

_I know, but… I sensed you and Kyle were in danger, and, well, I had to do something. My goodness, what happened here? There's blood everywhere._

_Kyle and Cartman… they… they fought to the death. Literally. Both of them were killed. Now I will take my own life…_

_Wait, Stan! I know… I know a way to bring Kyle back!_

_Kenny, don't be silly. You're not Jesus Christ or God. There is absolutely no friggin way to revive someone from the dead._

_Ah, but I definitely know a way._

_You do?_

_Yes. I will prove it to you right now._


	22. The Galdr of Revival

~!MATURE CONTENT WARNING!~ READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!

Chapter 22

"Kenny… I just… I don't know," Stan began to think that Kenny was a total madman, "How could… a mere human being violate a law of nature?"

"Mmmmfp, mmpfmffmp Mff mmmppm pppppf ppfpffmpmmffpppmmmpffffm mmpmppmffpppmfm, Fmmfmpmmmppp," Kenny waggled a finger, "Ffmppffmf pmppppppffpp fmpmfpmmmfmp fmpmffppmmpp Mff mfpmmmmpm mmm fmpmpppffpffmffmmppmfmpp mfpmppmmmmpmmmmmmfmfpmpp, fppmfpmppppp Pmpffmpmfmpp fppmmmfmm pppppffmp fmpmfpmpppffmpp?"

"Oh, yeah…" Stan looked in the air, "That time, you said your head hurt, and I felt perfectly fine. Why was that?"

_Sigh…_ Kenny soughed, _Stan, whatever you do, you cannot tell anyone of what I'm about to do. Do you promise?_

_Yes,_ Stan nodded somewhat impatiently.

_Very well. If you really do vow, I'll do it. _

_I swear I won't tell anyone, Kenny. I swear upon my honor and to the goddesses._

Stan and Kenny then stepped away from each other. The apostle waited as Kenny held his arms out to his sides, closed his eyes, and began to chant some odd language, similar to that of galdrar that Stan had heard. The wind surrounding the kid in orange hummed a merry tune, inviting fallen leaves and moist soil to join its dance. This turn of events summoned a light around Kenny, which sprouted from his back, going outward. About ten seconds later, the poverty-stricken kid had wings even larger than Kyle's, and his hood was off.

"K-Kenny!!" Stan brought his hand immediately to his mouth, "You mean… you're a-"

"Yes," Kenny bobbed his head, his sun-golden hair making the angels jealous, "I am… a full-blooded heron laguz, and the only one on planet Earth."

"So, does that mean…" Stan put his hands down, "…that Kyle and I are related to you?"

"Only distantly," Kenny answered, "This is why my head hurt that one day. The goddess of chaos, Yune, was in Kyle's body. As a full-fledged heron, I sicken when the spirit of chaos is so near. But that's not the point, now, is it? I let my heron blood awaken… for Kyle's sake."

"Right," Stan made his way near Kyle, stooping down when he reached him, "So, Kenny… what's the plan into bringing Kyle from the dead?"

"As you may know, we herons can sing galdrar," Kenny started to elucidate as he picked Kyle up, "If one is at least half-heron, such as Kyle, then a galdr can be sung. However, there is one galdr that can only be sung by one of the 5 sons of Fleance, the very first heron. I just so happen to be one of them. This galdr I am about to sing… is the galdr of revival."

"Galdr… of revival?" Stan twitched his ears in interest, "You mean… your song can revitalize my boyfriend from the dead?"

"Yes, but…" Kenny already had Kyle in a clear, high hill nearest the lake, "…this galdr costs something of the singer. Depending on who the person to be revived is, and how long they have been dead, the singer must sleep for a particular period of time."

"Uh-oh…" Stan's cat ears went from being erect to sad and low, "How long will you have to sleep?"

"Well, Kyle hasn't been dead for very long, so that's a plus. But since he is half heron, complications will ensue. Taking this all into account, I'd say about… 50 years."

"50?!" Stan jumped at hearing the outrageous number, "Th-That's far too long! Half a century, Kenny, half a century!! I'd be worried sick about you! And I wouldn't be the only one! Your parents will probably be dead by that time!!"

"Do you want your husband-to-be back or what?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Look, Stan," Kenny temporarily walked to Stan, setting his hands on the confounded apostle's shoulders, "I'm doing this because you're my friend. I want to help friends, and I know how troubled you'd be with Kyle no longer living. I… I couldn't possibly bear the pain of watching you live with such pain, or kill yourself as if you two were Romeo and Juliet. Besides, you and Kyle will not look much older at all fifty years from now. After all, you're a heron Branded and Kyle's half heron! Do you understand, Stan? "

"Y-Yes…" Stan barely consented, allowing a tear to roll down his cheek, "If that is what you wish, then sing the galdr of revival."

"I'm glad we're on the same page, Apostle Stanley Marsh Kirsch Altina," Kenny pronounced Stan's full name with wondrous clarity, once again standing right before Kyle, "Luckily, unlike other galdrar, the galdr of revival doesn't need any special preparations before it is sung. Thus, I shall sing it right away. Take good care of everyone, will you?"

"Yes, Kenny," Stan barely managed to contain his tears, therefore letting them out, "I'll make sure… that everything you love on this Earth is taken care of with vigilance."

"I'm glad to hear it," Kenny grinned one final time before turning around. The heron hesitated for about five seconds, but opened his mouth to sing:

~all in the ancient tongue~

"O great gods from above,

Bring back this lost soul from the depths of the Earth,

One who wishes to become one with the light of life…

The light…"

When Kenny had finished his song, he immediately collapsed to the floor, his life almost completely drained away. Stan instantly scuttled to his boyfriend's side, looking for any changes in his appearance. He noticed that the amount of Kyle's wounds quickly decreased, eventually becoming nothing. His heart wound took the longest to heal, but disappeared, as if it was never there.

"Kyle…?" Stan's voice still quivered, "Are you… alive now?"

"Hmm?" Kyle barely managed himself up, holding his hand to his forehead, "Ow… my head… it's killing me. Stan, where am I?"

"Oh, Kyle!" Stan unexpectedly threw himself at the wolf prince, "It's Kenny! He's… he's… Waaaaaaaaah!!!!"

"Oh, Stan…" Kyle brushed Stan's hair out of his face, then looked at Kenny's unconscious body in front of him, "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!!"

"*hic* You… bastards…" Stan managed to utter through his seemingly eternal tears, "Actually…"

"Holy crap!" Kyle plucked a pearl-white feather from one of Kenny's wings, "He's… a heron?!"

"Yes…"

"Why is he dead?"

"He ain't dead. He sung a 'galdr of revival' to revive you from the dead, which is now putting him to sleep for half a century."

"Well, what are we going to do now?"

"We'll have to move him to his house so that his parents will know," Stan ceased crying, taking hold of Kenny on one side, "Here, help me carry him."

"Okay…" Kyle consented, helping Stan carry the comatose heron all the way to the beat-up McCormick house. Since Stark's Pond was very far away from their house, it was already nightfall when they reached it.

"I'll knock," Stan gently let go of Kenny, walking right towards the door, knocking on it.

"Yes?" Carol happened to be the one to answer the door, "May I- Waaaaa!"

"Oh my God…" Stuart came to the front door shortly after his wife answered it, "What happened to my son?! Come inside, boys, and tell us."

"Okay," Stan and Kyle both nodded, explaining the whole situation to Kenny's parents.

"I see…" Carol nodded, "Half a century, huh? Stuart and I may be alive by then… But we must stop drinking and smoking so much if we want to see our little boy awake again."

"A wise decision, Mrs. McCormick," Kyle concurred.

"*sniff* Oh, my…" Carol buried her face in her son's chest, "Stuart, our son… he's not going to do anything for another 50 whole years…"

"There, there, Carol," Stuart consoled his wife, with tears in his eyes, "He'll come back. He's not dead forever."

But just as things were getting ever so tender, Stan walked out on the crying couple, Kyle following him close by.

"Stan, wait!" Kyle aimed to get Stan to stop, "Where are you going?"

"To my house!" Stan shouted without even looking back. He swiftly landed on his front doorstep, almost flying (literally) through his front door.

"Stan Marsh!" Randy scolded as his son barged in with his best friend, "I hope you have a good explanation for- Hey, get back here!!"

"Stan, wait up!" Kyle chased his distressed boyfriend all the way to his room, "Stan! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"*sniff* Did you... *hic* see the looks on their faces at seeing their unconscious son?" Stan bawled.

"Apostle, calm down…" Kyle tried to get close, but was shoved off.

"It… it was all due to my selfish request!" Stan cried, "If… if I had protected you, he wouldn't have had to sing that galdr… Dammit! It's all my fault!!"

"Stan…" Kyle managed to embrace the young apostle without being refused.

"But you know what?" Stan looked up at Kyle's sparkling eyes.

"What?"

"At least I'm glad that… we can be together again…" Stan cried, "After all, I don't want Kenny's sacrifice to be in vain."

"You're right…" Kyle nodded as he and Stan were now sitting on the bed, "But Stan… I don't want you to think too much on it… Just think of me if you feel down…"

"B-but Kyle!" Stan jolted when Kyle unbuttoned his coat, "How could you say that? After being friends with him since we were 3 years old, how could you say that?"

"Kenny wouldn't want you to dwell on this so much," Kyle's chest was now totally bare, as was Stan's, "If you did, you would never move on in life… and he would definitely not want that."

"You're right…" Stan finally let it go, "To get my mind of this… will you please give me the time of my life tonight?"

"My, my," Kyle smiled, "It's not like you to easily give in to my advances."

"It's like you said – if we are to get married, we should get used to the idea of being in bed together a lot."

"That is so true," Kyle took of his pants, underwear, hat, and gloves on his own, as did Stan.

"I'm ready for a second time…" Stan politely lay himself down, "What will you do to me first, Prince Kyle?"

"Heh," Kyle positioned his lips over Stan's left nipple, _Shouldn't a goddess' voice be telling you that?_

_Idiot!_ Stan replied as Kyle's slick tongue trailed down his stomach, _You know that my ability to hear their voices are nullified when I'm completely love-struck! Ah!_

Stan shook when he felt Kyle's steamy breath on his cock. The warmth of this breath instantly became wet as Kyle shoved the whole shaft into his mouth, feeling the head touch the back of his throat. The quivering member continuously stabbed it as Kyle bobbed his head up and down.

"Ah… Kyle, I'm… I'm com-" Stan was about to say the word "coming", but 90% of the flowing, white semi-liquid had already entered straight into Kyle's throat. The wolf prince had tasted and swallowed 5% more.

"Mm…" Kyle licked the final 5% off of his own fingers, "Strawberries and cream could not even merit the deliciousness of this."

"That can't be true…" Stan wanted to put a pillow above his face, "Are you… going to put it in now?"

"Good guess!" Kyle laughed silently.

Stan smiled in return, opening his legs wide to allow Kyle's throbbing man-rod to enter his tiny opening.

"Oh my God…" Stan's oxygen levels seemed to rapidly decrease with every firm thrust that Kyle gave, "This is… this is even more intense than when you last did me, Kyle."

"I know. You feel so much better inside…"

"And so do you."

These words held especially true when the two happened to climax at the exact same time, and so much sooner than before.

"*huff* *huff * Phew…" Kyle panted, allowing his member to leave Stan as the apostle's hole overflowed a white waterfall, "You come way too easily, Stan."

"Well, I should say the same to you!" Stan grinned as he felt Kyle's heart race on his stomach, "You climaxed at the same time I did!!"

"Oh, whatever!" Kyle got up, softly touching his lips to Stan's.

_Kyle, I really love you…_ Stan permitted Kyle's heartbeat to mingle with his own, hugging him tightly, _So please… don't you dare leave my side._


	23. Until We Meet Again

Chapter 23

"Man, I could barely sleep last night, thanks to you…" Stan managed to shove Kyle away from him, "My hole is burning…" _Yo, Kyle. Wake your lazy butt up, why don't you._

"Okay, okay," Kyle groggily got up, beginning to clean Stan's bedspreads.

"Why the hell are you taking your time?" Stan whapped one of Kyle's wings with his tail, "We have school! Haven't you heard?"

"You nagging kitty," Kyle grinned, returning the friendly attack with a kiss to Stan's lips.

"I-I'm off now!!" Stan caught his breath right after breaking free. In an attempt to avoid Hatari's heir, the 16-year-old apostle jumped off of the stairs, levitating and touching his feet to the carpet. His parents were still not awake.

"Hmm, it's only 7:30 a.m.?" Stan looked to his right, where a magnificent grandfather clock stood, "Dang it. For Kyle being here, I woke up way too early. Oh well."

Stan plopped himself on the sofa in front of the T.V., picking up the remote to it on. He flipped through the channels, not very impressed with what he was seeing.

"My goodness…" Stan heaved a sigh, tracing the tips of his cat fangs with his tongue, "When is there ever anything good on – What!"

The young prince pointed his ears upward in eagerness, making his face look very catlike. He stopped surfing when the news came on, regarding South Park High School.

"Thanks, Tom, I'm standing just outside South Park High here…" the reporter spoke, "Yeah, there sure is a terrible blizzard outside… The Colorado state school board says that there is no school today!"

"No school?" Stan wagged his tail, "Yippee!" _Hey, Kyle, guess what?_

_What?_ Kyle just came out of the room, with his sending stone in his hand.

"There's no school today!"

"Aw, crud!" Kyle fell to the floor, pointing his face and ears towards it, "I got up for nothing… Wait, not _nothing_… Stan!"

Kyle began to rush in his pockets for something, "Stan, I… that is, um… I… you…"

But Kyle's thought process was interrupted by Randy and Sharon simultaneously exiting their bedroom.

"Ung…" Randy rubbed his back, "Hey, shouldn't you be getting ready for school, Stan?"

"But look outside!" Stan walked to the window and called for his parents to come over, "There's a dreadful blizzard out there… And the news says that's it's so bad that school is closed today."

"So it is…" Randy groaned, still half asleep. His wife began to walk to the kitchen when she noticed Kyle, greeting him, "Oh, hey, Kyle. What brings you here?"

"Um…" Kyle looked around, averting the parents' gazes, "Just sleeping in Stan's room, staying over, that's all!"

"Fine, then," the former Gallian prince continued to plod towards the kitchen, lazily putting two slices of bread in the toaster.

"We know you two aren't gay, so there's nothing to worry about," Sharon, who was slightly more awake than her husband, got butter and jam out of their fridge.

"Yup!" Stan spoke up, getting better at covering certain truths, _Little do_ they _know…_

_Tee-hee…_ Kyle giggled when Stan's parents were not looking, _I see what you mean. Say, Stan…_

_What?_

_I think that the McCormicks aren't doing so well right now, especially since Kenny went into that fifty-year coma. Now they have to face a blizzard, with little food or anything. You want to take a quick trip to Wal-Mart to buy some things for them?_

_Sure! It's the least we could do to thank Kenny for reviving you._

"Hey, Mom?" Stan made his way for the kitchen.

"What is it, Stanley?" Sharon's voice revealed that she was growing more awake.

"Can Kyle and I go to Wal-Mart to buy some food and things for the McCormicks?"

"Sure. But make sure you go in your laguz forms. It's freezing out there."

"Thanks!" Stan bowed his head slightly, put his wallet in his pocket, then took Kyle by the hand, "Come on, Kyle, let's go."

"What?" Kyle asked when he and Stan were out of the house, "She said we could go, then?"

"Yeah. But it would behoove us to go when shifted," Stan had already become a winged cat.

"I see," Kyle agreed, transforming into a winged wolf, taking lead in the sky.

"Brr…" Stan shivered ¾ of the way to Wal-Mart, "Even with all of our fur, it's still cold as hell out here…"

"But hell's supposed to be hot," Kyle remarked.

"Oh, you know what I mean!"

"Don't worry, Apostle Stanley, I'll keep you warm."

"You know, that doesn't sound very right."

"Well, you're my boyfriend, right? It's only natural of me to be concerned about you and want to protect you."

"True that… But stop calling me 'Apostle!!' " Stan touched his hind paws in the snow in front of the Wal-Mart as he and Kyle both changed back.

_Okay, how about "Stanley-chan"?_ Kyle roared in laughter in his head.

_I suppose… Just only call me that through mind-speech,_ Stan answered, _After all, we don't want people to know of our affair…_

_Fine. But what should I call you in public, aloud?_

_Just "Stan" would be fine._

_Okay!_ Kyle playfully tweaked Stan's cheeks.

_Kyle! Don't do that!_ Stan attempted to ward Kyle off as people stared in confusion, _You're already giving people suspicions… Remember what we came here to do, Wolf Prince!_

_Okay… You're acting like my wife already._

"What should we buy first?" Stan looked around the school, twitching his ears as if he were in the wild.

"I don't know," Kyle responded, "Try to keep it simple, since we'll be buying a lot. Beef jerky, perhaps?"

"If it's on sale," Begnion's apostle hovered over to the dried goods section with Kyle close behind, "Hey! Only 2 bucks for one regular-sized bag! That's pretty cool!"

"We'll buy ten, then," Kyle put ten bags of several flavors of beef jerky in the cart, "What else?"

"Um, let's see… They don't have a lot to drink, so go over to the drink mix section and buy several drink packets. Also, get some water. I'll think of more food to get."

"Right," Kyle nodded, lightly flapping his wings to fly over to the drink mix section of Wal-Mart.

"Now, what else?" Stan wagged his tail and wiggled his cat ears, thinking hard, _Oh, I know! Candy! Lots of hard candy would be good! And… and chips, and T.V. dinners! Wow, it really feels like we're giving to charity, huh, Kyle?_

_Yup. In a way, I guess we are._

_You almost done getting drink packets?_

_Yeah. I'll be there in a little while._ Kyle descended from the sky ten minutes later, landing right in front of Stan.

"That was fast!" Stan nearly jumped at Kyle's sudden appearance.

"Okay, now…" Kyle put the packets of several drink mixes in the cart, "We have hard candy, a myriad of T.V. dinners, ten bags of beef jerky, drink mixes, and potato chips. I think this is enough. It'll be on my- Crap! I forgot my wallet!"

"Don't worry, Kyle," Stan took his wallet out of his pocket, holding it up, "I've got mine. Let me pay for all of this."

"B-But Stan… there must be at least $100 worth of stuff here! Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I am. Who else is going to do it?"

"Let me give you $50 when we get home."

"Oh, that won't be necessary."

"I insist!"

"No, really, Kyle, it's fine."

"B-But… Waah, you're mean!!"

Kyle then cried slightly, attracting attention from all directions.

"Wow, it's like they're lovers," a random passerby noted.

_Kyle, calm down!_ Stan covered the wolf prince's mouth with his right hand, _People will get suspicious of us!_

_B-But…_

_Fine! If it will calm you down, pay me $50 when we get home, why don't you._

_Yaaaaay!!_ Kyle resisted the urge to glomp his boyfriend. Thus he merely waggled his tail and ears, acting like the wolf pup he once was.

"Hey, it's Prince Kyle!" Some high school girls screamed from nearby.

"Uh-oh…" Kyle jolted, _What on Earth are_ these _river dogs doing here?_

_I don't know,_ Stan replied, _but we need to leave, now, or there will definitely be hell to pay._

_I second that! Let's go!_ Kyle rushed to the cash register nearest him, quickly taking Stan's wallet for the money.

"Where are you going, Prince Kyle?" a random girl shouted.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" hollered another.

"Rawr!" Stan hissed, "Leave him alone! Will you not _ever_ give him the time of day?"

"Ooh…" about twenty girls cooed, "Looks like _someone's_ jealous…"

"I am NOT jealous, you bitches!" Stan ran after Kyle, who was already rushing to leave the Wal-Mart.

"Noooo!!" the girls continued to chase after the two teenage boys, "Prince Kyyyyyyyyllllllleeeeeee!!!!"

"Damn, good riddance…" Kyle snarled at the mob of fangirls as he and Stan took wing, "If they expose our forbidden love, I'll tear them to smithereens with my piercing fangs."

"If I may, Prince," Stan offered, "I would like to partake in that."

"Be my guest!"

About ten minutes later, Stan and Kyle landed at the doorstep of the McCormick house, with a crapload of bags in their hands. Stan knocked, receiving Kevin's presence as an answer in ten seconds.

"H-Hello?" Kevin timidly spoke.

"Hi, Kevin," Stan smiled warmly, "Are your parents at home?"

"Yeah," Kevin nodded, "Mom! Dad! Stan and Kyle are at the door!"

"Hmm?" Stuart's footsteps were getting closer, "Oh, hi, boys. What do you have there?"

"Just some stuff to help you get through this blizzard," was Kyle's answer.

"Oh, we appreciate it, but we couldn't," Carol was now at the door, "You boys have done too much for us, and now this…"

"Please, Mrs. McCormick," Kyle bowed from the waist up, "Your son revived me from death. He's always been our friend ever since preschool. It's the extreme least we could do to return the favor."

"Oh…" Carol held her hands to her eyes as light tears flowed, "If you so insist, then we couldn't waste the offerings. Come inside, you two."

"Thank you," Kyle got up, bowing his head, "Where do you want us to put this?"

"Just set it on the kitchen counter," Stuart pointed towards the McCormick's filthy kitchen.

"Okay," Stan nodded, "Mr. McCormick?"

"Yes?" Stuart said as he turned on his family's beat-up television.

"Where is Kenny right now? We want to pay him a visit."

"He's in his room, resting, of course. Go ahead."

"Thanks again," Stan tilted his head to show gratitude, "Come along, Kyle."

It took a rather long time to find Kenny's room. The McCormick home has improved slightly over the years, but not much. But they still managed to locate that room, the one room that actually looked whole in the entire house.

"Kenny?" Kyle knocked as he and Stan let themselves in, "We're here to visit."

The graceful heron merely lay there as he slept, his fair wings folded so that he could hardly be seen.

"Oh, that's right…" Kyle seemed to forget, "Kenny's going to sleep for 50 years, thanks to the galdr of revival."

_I can still talk to you through mind-speech, though,_ a voice suddenly popped in both Stan and Kyle's heads.

_Kenny? Is that you?_ Stan was astounded.

_Yes. For a mere hour every week, I am able to talk to one with heron blood through mind-speech. This also holds true for any son of Fleance who sings the galdr of revival._

_That's good to hear,_ Kyle breathed a sigh of relief, _Well, knowing that you're okay, we'll take leave._

_Okay. I know you have millions of things to do._

_Tee-hee,_ Stan giggled, _See you awake in 50 years._

Stan and Kyle then left the room, leaving the boy with gorgeous plumage alone.

"Why are you worried, Apostle?" Kyle suddenly took Stan to a somewhat secluded area of the house.

"I… Wow, 50 whole years… We have to wait that long to see Kenny truly alive again."

"Stan, Kenny knew that this was going to happen when he sung the galdr. You have to let it go. Besides, we can still talk to him for an hour every week. Doesn't that suffice to some extent?"

"I suppose…"

"It's okay," Kyle ran Stan's shiny hair through his fingers, "In 50 years, he can see us as a completely united couple. Too bad we can't invite him to the wedding, though. But he can be with us in spirit!"

"That's true," Stan shed a tear of joy, allowing Kyle to take his lips, _In 50 years… and what happens between then and now… Only the goddesses voice will tell. Only my own darkness… will tell._


End file.
